What happened in F1 2026 Azerbaijan GP first practice
George Russell was fastest in a first Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice session in which Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Kimi Antonelli stopped on track and both McLaren drivers spent an extended spell in the garage.
In what was a disrupted first hour of running on the Baku street circuit, Russell set the fastest time - a 1m45.387s - midway through the session, with the aid of a tow from the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso along the final straight.
That put Russell exactly four tenths up on Max Verstappen, who set his fastest time of the session on his third timed attempt on the single set of soft tyres he and Red Bull used, with Charles Leclerc a mere 0.004s further back - the Ferrari having been marginally up on Russell's Mercedes at the end of the second sector.
Lewis Hamilton was fourth in the second Ferrari, with Antonelli's initial hard-tyre time good enough for fifth despite stopping inside the first half of the session.
Antonelli had been fastest at that point and was preparing for his first run on the soft tyre when he came to a stop in the runoff area past the Turn 7 right-hander, citing a loss of hydraulic pressure.
Oscar Piastri moved up to sixth right at the end of FP1, with he and team-mate Lando Norris both forced to spend time in the McLaren garage while the team checked its upgraded MCL40s.
Both cars were eventually sent back out, with a close-up of Norris's McLaren showing a makeshift hold on its bargeboard arrangement. Norris completed 14 laps, setting the 14th-fastest time.
Racing Bulls had both cars in the top 10. Liam Lawson, on his return to that cockpit after his three-race stand-in spell at Red Bull, was seventh ahead of Arvid Lindblad - who caused a yellow flag late in the session when he stopped at Turn 7 and had to reverse out.
Esteban Ocon - who as reported by The Race is set to lose his drive at the end of the season - was ninth for Haas and briefly stopped in the pit exit in the final two minutes of the session.
Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10 ahead of Audi team-mate Nico Hulkenberg. He also stopped in the final minutes and had to have his R26 wheeled behind the barriers.
Williams duo Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were 12th and 13th in the upgraded FW48.
Isack Hadjar's return to the Red Bull cockpit following his recovery from a wrist injury was a truncated one. He'd completed just eight laps when he complained of "something really wrong with the engine", after which Red Bull asked him to use second gear only and return to the pits - from which he did not emerge.
Hadjar therefore was consigned to 20th, sandwiched between the two Aston Martins of Alonso and Lance Stroll, both of whom have taken fresh power unit components this weekend.
Results
1 George Russell (Mercedes) 1m45.387s
2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.400s
3 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.404s
4 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.437s
5 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.878s
6 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +1.011s
7 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.053s
8 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.214s
9 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.237s
10 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.301s
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.484s
12 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +1.506s
13 Alex Albon (Williams) +1.552s
14 Lando Norris (McLaren) +1.594s
15 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.607s
16 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.656s
17 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +1.866s
18 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +2.136s
19 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +2.448s
20 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +2.486s
21 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +3.160s
22 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +3.928s
