George Russell set the pace in first practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a 1:45.387, finishing four tenths clear of Max Verstappen as Mercedes experienced contrasting fortunes in Baku. While George Russell immediately put the W17 at the top of the timesheets, championship leader Kimi Antonelli was forced to park his car with a hydraulic problem before reaching the halfway point of the session.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed in third and fourth for Ferrari, both around four tenths away from the benchmark despite completing the session without using the soft tyre. On a street circuit such as Baku, quickly finding confidence with the car and understanding the limits of the track is crucial, while tyre choices also played an important role as teams adopted different programmes from the opening practice session.
George Russell sets the Azerbaijan GP FP1 pace for Mercedes
George Russell’s first place was not entirely unexpected. Mercedes arrived in Baku regarded as one of the leading contenders because of the W17’s effectiveness on long straights and the nature of the circuit, which should expose its aerodynamic downforce limitations less than some other venues.
Those weaknesses remain an area Mercedes intends to address with upgrades planned for Malaysia. Toto Wolff has already acknowledged that Mercedes has further untapped potential in the W17, but its existing package immediately looked well suited to the high-speed demands of Baku.
Max Verstappen was second for Red Bull, exactly four tenths behind George Russell. Both the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen recorded their quickest laps on the soft compound.
It will also be interesting to see how Red Bull approaches the question of slipstreaming later in the weekend. As at Spa or Monza, Baku is one of those circuits where helping a team-mate with a tow could make a significant difference because of the enormous flat-out section towards the end of the lap.
Ferrari third and fourth without using the soft tyre
Charles Leclerc finished third, only four thousandths of a second behind Max Verstappen and just over four tenths away from George Russell. There was, however, an important difference between Ferrari’s programme and those of Mercedes and Red Bull.
Ferrari chose not to use the softest compound during FP1, instead saving its soft tyres for the later sessions when the drivers will begin pushing closer to the limit and running nearer Baku’s unforgiving walls.
Both Ferrari SF-26s ended the session approximately four tenths away from the fastest time. Like Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton produced a lap extremely close to that of his team-mate, finishing fourth and 0.437 seconds behind George Russell.
Significantly, Ferrari’s deficit did not primarily come from the tyre difference. As could have been expected, the SF-26 lost more than four tenths along Baku’s long straight, although the teams have clearly not yet extracted maximum performance from their power units during the opening session.
Straight-line performance and energy deployment are particularly important around the Baku City Circuit, where Ferrari faces a demanding test across the high-speed sections. The 2026 Baku straight-mode zones have added another technical dimension to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.
Kimi Antonelli’s FP1 ends with Mercedes hydraulic problem
Kimi Antonelli finished fifth in the second Mercedes, but his session was compromised by a hydraulic-system problem that forced him to park the W17 before even half of the session had been completed.
His best lap was 0.878 seconds slower than George Russell’s benchmark, but the gap is not representative of his true pace. Kimi Antonelli set that time early in the session on the hard tyre, two compounds harder than the soft used for George Russell’s fastest lap, at a stage when the drivers were not yet pushing at full intensity.
The setback comes as Kimi Antonelli enters Baku with a commanding advantage at the top of the championship. George Russell is trying to reduce an 81-point deficit after previously admitting that Kimi Antonelli is firmly in control of the 2026 title fight.
Mercedes nevertheless remains the reference point this season, and the team’s results have demonstrated the strength of a car that has repeatedly performed across very different circuit types. The scale of that advantage was already clear after Madrid, when an analysis of the Mercedes W17’s 2026 dominance highlighted the effectiveness of the package.
McLaren focuses on major MCL40 Baku upgrade package
Kimi Antonelli was not the only driver to encounter trouble during the opening practice session. Oscar Piastri was also forced to park his McLaren towards the end of FP1 because of a technical problem.
The Australian finished around one second behind George Russell, but outright lap time was not McLaren’s main priority. The Woking team concentrated primarily on gathering and analysing aerodynamic data from the substantial new development package introduced in Baku.
Lando Norris finished only 14th, around 1.5 seconds away from the benchmark, but it was clear that McLaren was not pursuing outright performance during this phase of the weekend. Given the team’s strong recent form, the performance of its heavily updated MCL40 will be one of the key areas to monitor as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix progresses.
Racing Bulls starts strongly in Baku midfield battle
Seeing Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad as high as seventh and eighth should not come as a major surprise. The VCARB03 has already demonstrated that it can be particularly competitive on this type of circuit and has frequently established itself as the strongest car in Formula 1’s midfield.
The two Racing Bulls drivers finished ahead of Esteban Ocon, who was separated from Arvid Lindblad by only a few thousandths of a second. Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10 for Audi.
George Russell therefore leaves the opening session with the early benchmark, but the competitive picture remains difficult to judge. Ferrari has yet to run the soft tyre, McLaren spent much of FP1 evaluating its new aerodynamic package and Kimi Antonelli lost valuable track time through his hydraulic problem, leaving plenty still to be discovered as the Baku weekend develops.
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