George Russell made a dominant start to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend by topping both Thursday practice sessions in Baku, underlining the impressive competitiveness of the Mercedes W17 on a circuit where power unit performance plays a major role.
The Mercedes driver led FP1 before increasing his advantage in FP2, where he finished around half a second clear of the rest of the field. Despite that commanding one-lap pace, Russell expects the margins to become considerably smaller when qualifying begins.
George Russell tops both Baku practice sessions
Russell was the benchmark throughout Thursday, finishing four tenths clear of the second-fastest driver in FP1 before extending that advantage to five tenths in FP2.
The performance reinforced Mercedes’ position as the team to beat in Baku, with the W17 once again demonstrating the qualities that have made it the benchmark car of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Russell was completely satisfied with the information Mercedes gathered during the opening day, but he remained cautious about reading too much into the headline times. In particular, the long-run data suggested that McLaren and Red Bull were much closer than the single-lap classification indicated.
Russell expects Baku qualifying gaps to shrink
“It was a positive first day here in Baku,” George Russell said. “The car proved competitive over a single lap and our race pace looks very similar to McLaren and Red Bull.”
“I’m sure the gaps will come down further tomorrow in qualifying, so there is still plenty of work to do tonight. Overall, though, it was an encouraging start to the weekend and a positive first day for the team.”
Mercedes therefore heads into the next stage of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend with a clear advantage on the timing sheets, but Russell is expecting the true competitive picture to tighten once every team begins extracting its maximum qualifying performance.
Mercedes looks strongest over one lap in Azerbaijan
Being four tenths clear in FP1 and five tenths ahead in FP2 nevertheless leaves Russell as one of the leading contenders for pole position on the evidence of Thursday’s running.
The British driver has shown particularly strong one-lap speed in Baku, adding another impressive performance to a season that has left him second in the Drivers’ Championship.
Race pace could produce a different picture. Russell himself acknowledged that McLaren and Red Bull were operating at a similar level over longer runs, meaning Mercedes’ substantial qualifying-style advantage may not translate directly into the Grand Prix.
That area has also often proved more complicated for Russell in his internal battle with Kimi Antonelli, who has frequently been able to extract more from the W17 across race stints this season.
For now, however, Thursday in Baku belonged firmly to Russell. With Mercedes fastest in both sessions and the number 63 car opening a half-second advantage in FP2, the challenge for the opposition is clear — even if Russell expects that gap to look considerably smaller when qualifying gets under way.
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