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# Winners and losers from F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying
- URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2026-azerbaijan-gp-qualifying-winners-losers/
- Published: 2026-09-25T15:05:19.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T15:24:13.000Z
- Description: Did the biggest pole position margin ever in Baku make for a boring F1 spectacle? Not at all. Here's our Azerbaijan GP qualifying winners and losers
- Author: The Race Team
- Tags: Formula 1, #mercedes, #kimi-antonelli, #george-russell, #red-bull, #max-verstappen, #isack-hadjar, #audi, #carlos-sainz, #williams, #esteban-ocon, #haas, #alpine, #sergio-perez, #cadillac, #oscar-piastri, #mclaren, #arvid-lindblad, #racing-bulls, #primary_homepage_feature

As a headline statistic, the biggest pole position margin yet around the streets of Baku points to an Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying session that might've lacked a bit of edge.

The reality was very different - and not just because of the contrasting fortunes of the two Mercedes drivers.

Here's our pick of winners and losers from Friday:

## Loser: Kimi Antonelli (16th)

Given Mercedes' form so far this weekend, even with how compromised Antonelli's Thursday had proven this was still an easy (relatively speaking) 18 points just begging to be collected.

That's still a plausible outcome, but it sure will be harder now after an "unnecessary" impact with the inside barrier at Turn 1 during the opening segment.

"I had a lot more headwind compared to the lap before, so the front just was much stronger, and I turned in roughly in the same spot, but obviously the car turned more and I clipped the wall," Antonelli explained.

With 81 points in the pocket he can afford it - but there's no need to 'spend' a chunk of that margin this weekend. And maybe he won't - but he's put himself in a bit of a danger zone, in terms of grid position and the overtaking he will now need to do. **\- Valentin Khorounzhiy**

## Winner: George Russell (1st)

Even before runaway championship leader Antonelli clipped the Turn 1 wall, Russell had been in formidable form. Without his team-mate for competition, that turned into pole position by a crushing margin of 0.837s.

Russell described himself as feeling "hooked up" from the start of the weekend, and while Max Verstappen, who he described as "the biggest threat", was hindered by yellow flags, Russell always looked on target for pole position.

While it will take far more than one pole position, or even a victory on Saturday, to reignite his faded title chances, it's an important step in what Russell calls the "upward cycle" of improving his performances. **\- Edd Straw**

## Loser: Max Verstappen (8th)

Max Verstappen reckoned he was losing half a second to Isack Hadjar because of an engine/power-related problem - and what was Verstappen's deficit to Hadjar in Q3? 0.581s.

OK, you'd expect Verstappen (who topped FP3) to beat Hadjar with the half-second deficit removed, especially after Hadjar's three-race injury lay-off, and he might still have done had he not caught a yellow flag on his final run.

On his second run prior to that, his battery didn't go to 100% on his prep lap either, so that was another chance lost. Combined with the car's front-bottoming, which caused brake struggles, that meant a day that looked so promising turned into a nightmare for Verstappen. **\- Jack Benyon**

## Winner: Isack Hadjar (4th)

Ever a glass-half-empty driver in his time in F1 so far, Hadjar emphasised that with continuity instead of injury he would've "definitely" been on the front row here - instead missing out by 0.141s.

"Nothing outstanding," he added. But while a 2027 deal is already in his pocket it's certainly not a bad time to remind everyone, after three rounds of impressively workmanlike stand-in pace from Liam Lawson, that Hadjar has had serious speed this year.

And he did admit he has been happy about how he's eased himself into this weekend, at a track that is just waiting to catch you out.

"I told myself it's mandatory not to touch the wall or anything. For a comeback, there's no point taking a lot of risks. So I was really driving a bit under the limit the whole weekend in that very tight section - I think I just did that natural step in Q3." **\- VK**

## Loser: Audi (17th and 18th)

The two heavily-upgraded Audis had not impressed very much in practice - but even so, the double Q1 exit looks like an aberration.

It's not just the power unit, Gabriel Bortoleto insisted.

"There were tracks like Monza where we were almost in Q3 and there are more straights than here. So I think it's something bigger that we need to understand," he said.

"I think it was better \[earlier in the weekend\], but still we were always on the edge of going out in Q1.

"The whole weekend we had no grip. If you don't have grip, you cannot go fast in the corners. If you don't go fast, you don't make a laptime. It's simple as that, and it's what other teams, when they go out in Q1, they probably say."

Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was more cheery, in relative terms, arguing his Q1 exit was "mostly because of circumstances", specifically a yellow flag and a lost tow. And neither he nor Bortoleto is suggesting the upgrade is misfiring - but certainly it's proving no game changer for Baku. **\- VK**

## Winner (then loser): Carlos Sainz (9th)

Sainz put Williams into Q3 for the first time this year as its significant car upgrade excelled on debut - although Sainz felt the result was an overachievement.

Alex Albon joined Sainz in Q2 as Williams escaped Q1 with both cars for the first time since July's British GP, which serves as evidence the FW48 is a more competitive beast in Baku.

But Sainz (who does still face a yellow flag investigation) felt his ninth place was a result of Williams nailing its tyre usage and run plan, and "some serious laps on the limit" from himself, to end up a little higher than it would be on pace alone.

He described the car as no different "in feel, just quicker" because it's lighter and has a bit more downforce - but the work done to achieve that has been immediately rewarded.

Sainz admitted that getting a noticeable result felt pretty good for him, too, after a year spent toiling further down the midfield - and described the laps to achieve that as "the highest stress of the season" because of the challenge threading through the twists of sector two on a gusty day and low-grip track.

What a shame, then, that a good deal of that good work was undone by a five-place grid drop for failing to slow for yellow flags. **\- Scott Mitchell-Malm**

## Loser: Esteban Ocon (14th)

That aforementioned Hadjar lock-up in Q2 (on the right front, sending him into the Turn 15 escape road) had no real impact on his own qualifying - but did compound the misery of another French driver.

Ocon had three tenths in hand over team-mate Ollie Bearman coming into their final run in Q2, but couldn't match Bearman with his first effort after returning to the track - compromised by what he described as a "gust of wind", which seemingly sent him onto the outside kerb at Turn 16.

"And then I did the same laptime, again, \[before\] arriving to Turn 15\. I don't know who went off \[Hadjar\], but I had to back off on the exit to make sure that I was not going to get any penalty," he vented.

"I did exactly the same laptime. So yeah, I lost, what, three-four tenths? Unbelievable. You know, I just have no words. It's different race weekend, same s\*\*t. It's always something going on, on my side, if it's either the car, if it's something else, now yellow flag, safety cars, whatever.

"But I don't deserve all the s\*\*t that I have on my back at the moment. So I don't know, I might need to take a good shower." **\- VK**

## Winner: Alpine (7th & 10th)

Alpine took full advantage of Antonelli's absence to get both cars into Q3 - a good day for any midfield team when the top teams usually hog eight of the 10 spots at the top of the order.

Pierre Gasly managed to beat Max Verstappen - caveated by Verstappen's power issue, but still impressive - with his take being "great balance, great car, managed to get to Q3 pretty comfortably".

Franco Colapinto had more of a struggle, and his off into the Turn 15 run-off, blamed on a flatspot, also cost Gasly on his final flying lap. Gasly reckoned sixth-place qualifier Lewis Hamilton was also there for the taking without that.

A scruffy Q3, but it didn't matter, and Gasly's confident of keeping the rest of the 'midfield' behind. **\- JB**

## Loser: Sergio Perez (20th)

The opportunity was there but, in the words of Perez, Cadillac "needed everything to go our way" to bag its first Q2 appearance.

Everything did not go its way.

Perez said Cadillac had the "wrong programme" in terms of how he and team-mate Valtteri Bottas prepared their laps. That went further awry when Bottas, who was due to provide the tow, was called to the weighbridge.

Then Perez had his final lap wrecked by Fernando Alonso going up the escape road at the Turn 15 left-hander ahead of him (a chain of events that meant the Aston Martin outqualified the Cadillac). To add insult to injury, Perez has also been assessed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri.

The biggest shame is that we didn't get to see what Baku specialist Perez was capable of dragging out of the Cadillac. Because the form was there: 13th in FP2, 16th in FP3 - at the end of an eight-lap stint on the soft tyre on the latter occasion, too.

The positive for Perez and Cadillac is that this wasn't competitive reality setting in. 

But not for the first time this season, they've probably been left frustrated by imperfections in their own execution. (To such an extent that a three-place grid drop for impeding Oscar Piastri doesn't make a great deal of difference.) **\- Jack Cozens**

## Winner: Oscar Piastri (3rd)

Although a front-row position was possible, as he was just one thousandth slower than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, it was important for Piastri to get on top of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris after struggling in recent times.

Piastri described it as "not an easy weekend" for McLaren, so felt third on the grid was "a really good result".

Though he admitted that there have been some difficult laps amongst the good ones in Baku, overall he was encouraged with his own performance. 

"On a personal level, I feel we've been building up well," said Piastri. "I was pretty happy with my laps in Q3." **\- ES**

## Loser: Arvid Lindblad (15th)

Racing Bulls's hopes of significant mid-weekend gains have not so far come to fruition - the car looked outmatched in qualifying relative to some of its usual opposition, and is at risk of a particularly bad points day on Saturday if the two Alpines ahead benefit from some classic Baku chaos.

But while Lawson simply lamented the deficit on the straights, saying that Racing Bulls drivers are "trying to make up time that is not really there", for team-mate Lindblad such a quiet Q2 exit felt particularly sour.

"I'm a bit frustrated, more at myself than anything just because I feel that I didn't do something special like I normally do at the end of these qualifyings to put us in the final part," he regretted, admitting that his Thursday crash has compounded a shortage of confidence on braking.

"It's not been a good day, it's not been a good week. I just need to understand why I haven't been on it." **\- VK**