Early drama for Kimi Antonelli in Baku F1 practice as George Russell fastest
George Russell tops FP1 as Kimi Antonelli breaks down in Baku.
George Russell set the pace in opening practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while Mercedes team-mate and Formula 1 championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli broke down.
Russell, who is 81 points behind Antonelli in the title race heading into the Baku weekend, benefitted from a huge tow as he topped the first hour of practice by 0.400 seconds from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
There was an early setback for Antonelli after the 20-year-old Italian reported a loss of hydraulics in his Mercedes and stopped on track around half way through the session with smoke billowing out of his W17.
Ferrari opted against using the soft tyre in FP1 as Charles Leclerc strapped on a set of the medium tyres to go third, 0.404s off the pace and around the same margin clear of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
2026 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Full Thursday practice results in Baku
Antonelli, who missed out on 25 minutes of track time, ended up fifth-fastest, ahead of Oscar Piastri in sixth. Piastri missed significant running in FP1 as McLaren investigated damage to his MCL40, which features a new floor and bodywork, as well as the return of the rotating H-Wing.
Seventh place went to Liam Lawson, who is back in the Racing Bulls after Isack Hadjar was cleared to return to action for Red Bull in Azerbaijan, having recovered from a wrist injury that has kept him sidelined from the past three races.
His Racing Bulls team-mate and F1 rookie Arvid Lindblad was eighth, ahead of Esteban Ocon, who looks set to lose his Haas seat at the end of the season, and Gabriel Bortoleto, who rounded out the top-10 for Audi.
It was an eventful FP1 that saw the brakes on Carlos Sainz’s upgraded Williams catch fire, before the Spaniard ultimately finished 12th-fastest ahead of team-mate Alex Albon.
Reigning world champion Lando Norris failed to set a representative lap time as he took a lowly 14th, behind the Williams pair.
It was troubled session on his F1 comeback for Hadjar, who spent most of opening practice stuck in the garage after reporting brake and then engine problems in his Red Bull.
The Frenchman ended up 20th, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas, who was the slowest driver in 22nd.
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