> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.the-race.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Winners and losers from Baku F1 practice - URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/winners-and-losers-from-baku-f1-practice/ - Published: 2026-09-24T15:06:24.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-24T15:06:24.000Z - Description: The Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend has begun with Mercedes in early-2026 form, in both pace and reliability - but what about the others? - Author: The Race Team - Tags: Formula 1, #azerbaijan-grand-prix, #primary_homepage_feature The Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend has begun with Mercedes in early-2026 form, in both pace and reliability. Here's how teams up and down the grid stacked up on this rare Thursday of track action - and what they had to say afterwards. ## Winner: George Russell (1st) Mercedes insists the gap is not "representative" because it managed more proper push laps than its immediate rivals and "every timed lap you did, the laptimes were improving". Even so, Russell is in as strong a position as you really can be coming out of practice day, with a car that seems to have an edge of some degree and a team-mate who is on the back foot due to unreliability (and anyway should be super-happy to settle for second if it comes to that). "George was pretty sick here last year and finished P2," pointed out Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord. "He goes well at every circuit \[but\] this is one where traditionally he's had some really strong results, and that's what you're looking for as a team - if one car hits trouble, the other one's right up there and leading the way." **\- Valentin Khorounzhiy** ## Loser: McLaren (6th and 8th) This was an inauspicious first outing for McLaren's major bodywork upgrade - as it had to execute some slightly makeshift engineering work on it during practice, and was mileage-limited in FP1. McLaren, though, is wholly convinced the upgrade is performing as anticipated, and Lando Norris, who was ultimately the quicker of its two drivers (1.5s off the pace, and 0.026s up on Oscar Piastri), says the car felt good. But, as Norris also said: "We're just... miles off the pace. So, yeah... "We're at a slow-speed track with a very long straight. Mercedes is quicker than us in every slow-speed corner, as we expect, and they're quicker than us in the straights, as we expect. "I think that nothing's a surprise. Maybe the size \[of the gap\] is. But I said yesterday I don't expect to be that great here. Of course, I hoped to be better than my expectation. But I don't think it's a surprise." **\- VK** ## Winner: Pierre Gasly (7th) If Pierre Gasly can end Saturday (that's race day, remember!) where he finished today, he'll be very happy indeed as he split the McLarens in FP2. "I'm very pleased," said Gasly. "What I've felt gives me some good confidence for tomorrow." Audi has brought a sizeable upgrade package here and Racing Bulls is always a threat, but Alpine has started the weekend as the midfield car to beat - at least in Gasly's hands. **\- Jack Benyon** ## Loser: Audi (14th and 15th) and Williams (16th and 17th) An uninspiring start for both of these teams, ending up behind Sergio Perez’s Cadillac in FP2 despite having brought substantial upgrade packages to this race. Gabriel Bortoleto ran the almost front-to-back new Audi parts in both sessions and reported after FP2 that the car "didn't feel amazing in FP2 if I'm very honest, we're lacking a little bit of grip", while team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was just under a tenth further off - having run the old parts in FP1 before a gearbox problem curtailed his running. Over at Williams there’s a lot riding on the new lightweight chassis, which Carlos Sainz reported "feels a bit quicker" - but he was half a second down on the leading Cadillac in FP2, following a brake fire in FP1. With Williams having stood still for so long, Sainz feels even a better-sorted version of this new car is only likely to lift Williams back to being a Q2 regular. "If we want bigger steps, we’re going to have to wait for next year". **\- Ben Anderson** ## Winner: Esteban Ocon (10th) Yesterday it emerged Esteban Ocon was all but out at Haas for next year, likely to be replaced by Rafa Camara. While a strong day of practice won't make up for that, he started the weekend very well to run ninth and 10th respectively in the two practice sessions. "I didn't even push that much and I got a good feel, and it's working on the laptime," said Ocon. "The car seems to be healthy for the moment. We've seen from one day to the other that it could change, so hopefully we are not going to make it worse on that second day." He added it was "very nice to drive" and "much better" than last year, when he "couldn't brake at all". His comments do give a certain feeling of someone not needing to keep his team happy anymore! But we're here for the honest take. **\- JB** ## Loser: Arvid Lindblad (18th) Make that a second time in two weekends that Lindblad has junked his car on the opening day of running - this time with a slightly unconventional crash in the castle section (normally you see cars go nose-first into the outside wall there, rather than side-on for two impacts). "He feels he was 1mm too far to the right. I'd say he was probably 20mm too far - but we can argue about what that number is!" chuckled team chief Alan Permane. "He was up quite a lot on that lap - and he just went a bit too far." It's less than ideal, also remembering that the Madring practice crash did influence his confidence through the weekend, and the sole remaining Racing Bulls car wasn't massively fast in the afternoon in Liam Lawson's hands - but ultimately it's no disaster. "We're OK," reckoned Permane. "We're where we think we were. We've certainly got a bit of time to find. But no more than normal between a P2 and a P3 session. "We've made some changes between P1 and P2\. And maybe they weren't quite in the right direction." **\- VK** ## Winner: Sergio Perez (13th) "I think we are ahead here," said Valtteri Bottas, when asked how Cadillac compared to Aston Martin at the end of FP2. The laptimes overwhelmingly back up that opinion. But Bottas's team-mate Perez might well have his sights set a little higher still. The ADUO 2 Ferrari engine is definitely providing an assist here - reckoned to be worth around two tenths - but a tow can make or break your qualifying; Cadillac chief racing officer Marc Hynes said tows are "everything here". Perez certainly got a tow from Oscar Piastri on his fastest lap, which put him an eye-catching 11th at the time and was still good enough for 13th come the end of the session. But you can never underestimate Perez's brilliance here, too. Competitive gravity might come into play in qualifying, and make this look like a flattering outlier. But practice form suggests that if Perez can string everything together - and conjure up a bit more of his Baku magic - then Cadillac's in with a shot of its first Q2 appearance in F1. **\- Jack Cozens** ## Loser: Lewis Hamilton (5th) Lewis Hamilton was accused of getting in the way in Madring practice on multiple occasions and hit the headlines for it again here in Baku as he's been summoned to the stewards for alleged impeding. Lawson - back in at Racing Bulls after his Red Bull stint subbing for Isack Hadjar - was furious when he caught Hamilton in the esses approaching the final straight - but did soften his stance in his comments after the session, sympathetic to the closing speeds created by the battery-thirsty 2026 cars. Hamilton reckoned he was four seconds ahead initially but "as we got into \[Turn\] 18, it's like the car just died, and he \[Lawson\] swamped up the gap massively - and that could happen to anyone". Hamilton's view is everyone should have access to full power and have to be on full throttle in that section, whether on a fast lap or not. He reckons this will be raised in the drivers' briefing. As for the actual performance, it was nothing to shout about from Ferrari. "For some reason we're just lacking speed," Hamilton said, while team boss Fred Vasseur says the times were "very up and down". **\- JB**