Russell dominates Baku qualifying to claim pole as Antonelli crashes out in Q1
Russell tops every segment for dominant Baku pole
Mercedes George Russell looked quick again from the off on Friday, as the Mercedes driver went into Qualifying as one of the heavy favourites for pole. He delivered just that, grabbing his first pole since Austria in what was an incredibly dominant performance – gapping the field by over eight tenths of a second.
But while there was jubilation on Russell’s side of the garage, there was shock on Kimi Antonelli’s. He clipped the walls and damaged his car badly enough to park up. That was in Q1, and while his first lap time was enough to make Q2, he took no further part and has to start down the order tomorrow.
Mercedes reactions
Kimi Antonelli, 16th, No time set in Q2:
"First of all, congratulations to George. He's done an great job all weekend and fully deserves pole position. On my side, it's obviously frustrating because the car felt good from FP3 onwards and the pace was there. We had a stronger headwind into Turn One than on the previous lap and the grip level had changed quite a lot, so the car had more grip than I expected. It's a shame because I felt we had enough pace to get through comfortably and fight further up the order. I tried my best to bring the car back to the pits, but unfortunately the damage was too much. The team made the right call to stop the car and protect it. The positive is that we've shown strong pace all weekend and the car has felt good. Starting further back will make things difficult at a track where overtaking isn't easy, but I've shown before that I can bounce back from setbacks and my focus is already on tomorrow. We'll do everything we can to move forward, score good points and maximise the result for the team."
George Russell, 1st, 1:42.526:
"That lap was unbelievable. Given how tight things have been all weekend, I was shocked when I saw the gap. The lap felt incredibly good, but I certainly wasn't expecting that result. The plan was always to stay on the same set of tyres. The first run was a banker because I knew there was more time to find, and I wanted to push the limits on the second lap. Everything came together. The car felt really hooked up and I was able to get the most out of it. With Max, both Ferraris and Kimi all looking strong this weekend, it's going to be important to get a good start, maximise every opportunity and execute a clean race. I've felt good in every session and that qualifying lap was one of the most satisfying I've done. The focus now is on tomorrow and making sure we convert today's result into the best possible outcome."
Bradley Lord, Mercedes Deputy Team Principal:
"That was an amazing lap from George! He topped every segment of qualifying, honed his approach with each lap, and then delivered a dominant lap when it mattered most. We approached qualifying like a wet session, aiming to be on track throughout and not at the mercy of yellow flags, and that included being first car on track in Q3 - and the first car to complete the session. George executed everything cleanly and thoroughly deserved pole. Tomorrow won't be straightforward. Around Baku, the tow and energy deployment characteristics of these cars make it difficult to control the race from the front, so there will be plenty to manage across the distance. But his target is absolutely clear. It was a frustrating session for Kimi, particularly given the pace he and the car have shown all weekend. He clipped the wall in Turn One after the car gripped up more than he expected as he committed to the corner, and Race Control instructed him to park the car shortly after. Incidents like this are part and parcel of a long season and can happen around a street circuit like this where the margins are small; it's another moment of learning. Kimi has shown several times this season that he is able to put setbacks behind him quickly. The pace has been there throughout the weekend, and the objective tomorrow will be to recover as many positions as possible. The team will repair and prepare the car, and we're confident he can fight his way forward in the race."
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director:
"Congratulations to George and the team on a well deserved pole. He has been strong all weekend and looked to take another step into qualifying. By the final session it didn't look like there was anyone to challenge him and his final lap was exceptional. Kimi had a tough time with a mistake that took him out of the running from early in Q1 when he misjudged the entry to Turn 1. He's clearly disappointed, especially having seen the potential that was in the car today, but we'll look at plans that allow him to mount a strong recovery. With George we need to see if we've got the pace to control the race, but even if that is strong, it can be a difficult race to manage given the risk of incidents coupled with the fact that we may be having to cover off numerous threats from behind. The car has been competitive from the first session and that's given us a great opportunity tomorrow. Converting that into a strong result won't be straightforward around Baku, but we've put ourselves in a good position and now need to execute cleanly across the whole race."
Ferrari on front row
Ferrari were once again in the mix in FP3, with Lewis Hamilton just pipping his team mate in the final practice session. But such is Ferrari’s policy of swapping who comes out first, this weekend it was Hamilton’s turn to lead his team mate around. That left him without a tow on the crucial Q3 runs, and as such, he could not challenge for the front two rows.
Charles Leclerc could though, grabbing second with a great final lap – but the Monegasque driver could get nowhere near Russell’s pole time.
Charles Leclerc, 2nd, 1:43.363:
"I managed to put together a good lap on my last run, but the gap to George (Russel) was quite big. We expected to be rather far off after a difficult Thursday, but after this morning’s practice we saw there may be something more on the table. We are happy with our position on the grid, let’s see what we can do in the race tomorrow."
Lewis Hamilton, 6th, 1:43.858:
"Q1 was fairly solid and there were some positive elements to take from the session. However, getting the tyre temperatures right was a challenge throughout qualifying and that made it difficult to consistently get them into the right operating window. We struggled to extract the grip we were looking for, particularly in Q3, and not having a tow on the final run also made it more difficult to maximise the lap.The car itself is not in a bad place, but there are a few areas for us to understand better. We’ll go through everything tonight and focus on putting ourselves in the best position possible for tomorrow’s race."
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal:
"I’m very pleased with the job the team did between yesterday and qualifying, because we struggled quite a lot on Thursday. We made some significant changes to the set-up and to our approach, and they paid off today. George (Russell) has been very strong since the first lap of FP1, but Charles did a good job to put the car on the front row. On Lewis’ side, it was difficult to get a tow because the different run plans made it complicated to synchronise with the other cars. He also brushed the wall on his first lap in Q3, which compromised that attempt, but he recovered well to finish sixth despite not having a tow on his final lap. Tomorrow, tyre degradation is expected to be very low, which could make track position particularly important. We are in a position to score good points with both cars, even if Baku is always unpredictable. We will focus on ourselves, execute the race as well as we can and see what opportunities come our way."
McLaren in the fight
McLaren found far more time on Friday than Thursday, the team making some good set-up changes that enabled both drivers to compete. Oscar Piastri wound up with the intra-team honours, as his stronger run of one-lap pace continues following his Qualifying P3 in Monza. The Australian was 0.001s off the front row on a day where there was very l