Russell tops Baku first practice as Antonelli stops with hydraulic issue
George Russell set the fastest time in first practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on 24 September 2026, leading Red Bull's Max Verstappen while championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fifth but stopped on track with a hydraulic leak.
Russell, whose most recent grand prix win came in Austria in June, was 0.4 seconds quicker than Verstappen and trails Antonelli by 81 points in the standings. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were third and fourth respectively, both just over 0.4 seconds off Russell and directly behind Verstappen, and neither Italian car ran the soft tyre as teams completed varied programmes.
Antonelli had been fastest during the early running on hard tyres but failed to complete a timed lap on the soft compound after stopping at Turn One on his first soft-tyred lap, with smoke observed coming from the cooling vents on his engine cover. He missed half the session and finished 0.878 seconds adrift of Russell's benchmark time.
Racing Bulls drivers Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad occupied seventh and eighth places, ahead of Haas driver Esteban Ocon. Ocon recently stated on Thursday that he is a free agent for 2027 and is currently contesting his Formula 1 future. The Audis of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, both fitted with a major upgrade, were ninth and 10th.
Hulkenberg stopped on track with a technical problem towards the end of the session. Lindblad had earlier made an error at Turn Seven and stopped facing the barriers but was able to reverse out and rejoin the track.
Both Russell and Verstappen also ran off at different points when they missed their braking markers, with the Mercedes driver going into the run-off at Turn Three and Verstappen doing so at Turn One. Live commentary was available on BBC Radio 5 Live and Sports Extra, with live text updates on the BBC Sport website and app.
Antonelli's lost running means he will need to make up track time in the second practice session later in the day.