Russell Tops FP1 and FP2 as Antonelli and Lindblad Hit Trouble in Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2026 Practice

George Russell topped both practice sessions at the Baku City Circuit, a 1:45.387 in FP1 and a 1:43.347 in FP2, the second the fastest lap of the day. Kimi Antonelli finished FP2 0.552 seconds behind Russell after losing most of FP1 and the first half of FP2. The championship leader stopped at Turn 7 with a hydraulic problem nine laps into FP1, Mercedes changed his engine, and he went second on his seventh lap of FP2. Max Verstappen was third in FP2 in Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2026 practice, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fourth and fifth for Ferrari.

Key Points: F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2026 Practice

• Russell tops FP1 with a 1:45.387 and FP2 with a 1:43.347
• Antonelli stops at Turn 7 with a hydraulic issue after nine laps of FP1, takes an engine change, then goes P2 in FP2 on his seventh lap
• Lindblad clips the barrier at Turn 8 in FP2, red flag stopping the session for around 10 minutes
• Leclerc and Hamilton P3 and P4 in FP1 on the Medium, within 0.437s of Russell’s Soft lap
• Floor damage hits both McLarens in FP1, with a fuller fix planned for Friday
• The Soft holds up on FP2 long runs as track temperature falls from 47.7°C to 41.4°C

FP1: Russell Leads as Antonelli Stops at Turn 7

The track was green at the start and grip was low. Isack Hadjar, back in the Red Bull after recovering from a wrist injury, struggled under braking and admitted he’d nearly hit the wall. Oscar Piastri was fighting heavy vibration from his front brakes, and Verstappen reported his car pulling to the right even in a straight line. Lindblad and Liam Lawson ran aero rakes for Racing Bulls while the line cleaned up.

Times dropped quickly as the track improved. Leclerc’s early 1:54.395 was down to a 1:46.512 from Verstappen before Antonelli went top with a 1:46.265 on the Hard. Soon after, he stopped at Turn 7 reporting a loss of hydraulics, and the Virtual Safety Car came out around 24 minutes in while marshals dealt with the car. The failure ended his session after nine laps.

Russell went to the Soft once the track was green again, locked up at Turn 3, then took a tow from Fernando Alonso to a 1:45.387. Verstappen abandoned his first Soft lap after a lock-up at Turn 1 and came back for a 1:45.787. Leclerc and Hamilton were third and fourth, 0.404s and 0.437s off, both on the Medium.

Norris managed just 14 laps and Piastri spent much of the hour in the garage, both McLarens suffered floor damage. Hadjar was told to stay in second gear and brought the car in with an engine-related problem after eight laps, and Carlos Sainz had a fire in the pit lane after a Williams brake issue before getting back out.

Nico Hulkenberg stopped his Audi at Turn 4 and got out to help push it clear, bringing a second Virtual Safety Car. Lindblad was briefly stuck at Turn 7 and Esteban Ocon stopped at pit exit. Valtteri Bottas was summoned for passing Albon under a single yellow between Turns 6 and 7, but the stewards applied no penalty, ruling he couldn’t reasonably have avoided completing the move.

FP1 Classification

Leclerc had the fastest first sector of the top 10 on his Medium lap. Verstappen was quickest through the castle section in the middle of the lap. Russell had the fastest final sector, the long flat-out run back to the line, and that’s where most of his margin came from.

FP1 Sector Splits: Top 10

Bold indicates fastest sector across the top 10.

FP2: Russell Again, Antonelli Straight Back In

Antonelli stayed in the garage at the start while Mercedes finished the engine change, and Hadjar had a new gearbox after FP1. Most of the field went out on the Medium. Franco Colapinto went into the Turn 2 run-off almost as soon as he left the pit lane.

Norris took over at the front with a 1:45.184 on the Hard before Verstappen took it back on the Medium by 0.069s. Russell’s 1:44.537 then lasted until Verstappen beat it by 0.045s. Verstappen wasn’t happy with the car, reporting he was “constantly counter-steering” as the rear axle lifted off the ground. Lance Stroll brushed the wall at Turn 15, Lawson had a moment at Turn 2 and Hadjar locked up heavily into Turn 1.

Lindblad carried too much speed into the tight Turn 8 section, clipped the barrier and made further contact on the uphill exit. Red flag at 16:19 local time. He climbed out unhurt, ending his session after four laps. The session resumed at 16:29 with just over half an hour left.

Antonelli was out within a minute of the restart. Leclerc briefly took Ferrari to the top with a 1:44.473 before Russell went 1:43.759, then 1:43.347 with a slipstream from Gabriel Bortoleto’s Audi. Antonelli’s 1:43.899 came on his seventh lap, good for second.

Late on, Ocon ran into the Turn 15 escape road and Norris made light contact with the wall at Turn 16.

FP2 Classification

Antonelli had the fastest first sector of the top 10. Russell took the other two, and his final sector of 24.496 was the only one below 24.6. Piastri was second quickest through the middle of the lap but lost more than a second to Russell on the run back to the line, his 25.539 the slowest final sector in the top 10. Norris was the slowest of the top 10 through the speed trap on his fastest lap, 317 km/h against 333 km/h for Russell.

FP2 Sector Splits: Top 10

Bold indicates fastest sector across the top 10.

The Long Runs and the Soft Tyre

The last 20 minutes of FP2 went to race preparation, and plenty of teams did it on the Soft. Leclerc’s five-lap run went 1:49.262, 1:49.076, 1:48.841, 1:48.751, 1:47.933, quicker every lap. Hamilton’s followed the same shape, 1:49.714 down to 1:48.172. Piastri ran six clean laps between 1:48.0 and 1:49.9 and Norris six between 1:48.3 and 1:49.7, McLaren confirming both were on high fuel with used Softs.

Russell ran the Medium, four laps of 1:48.336, 1:47.905, 1:47.763 and 1:47.837. Antonelli, also on the Medium, went from 1:49.444 to 1:47.793 in four laps. Verstappen’s Soft run had traffic in it, his clean laps at 1:48.333, 1:47.851, 1:48.130 and 1:48.161.

None of the sampled Soft runs showed obvious degradation, and McLaren said the tyre looks strong enough to be in the mix for the race. That isn’t enough to rule the Hard out for Saturday. Fuel loads, tyre age and run plans weren’t the same across the field, and FP3 should give a clearer picture.

New Parts on Track

Six teams declared 38 updates to the FIA for Baku. Thursday’s times can’t isolate what any one of them is worth, with teams running different programmes and some splitting specifications between their two cars.

Williams are in the new lighter chassis they’ve been waiting for all season, which doesn’t appear on the upgrade list, alongside the new floor package that does. Albon did 29 laps in FP1, more than anyone, while Sainz lost time to that brake fire. They finished FP2 16th and 17th, and one day on a new chassis at a street circuit isn’t enough to judge its effect.

Audi brought the biggest package on the list, fourteen items built around a new floor, with a new front wing and rear wing assembly to go with it. Bortoleto was tenth in FP1. In FP2 the two Audis were 14th and 15th, 0.06s apart.

Racing Bulls ran their new front wing on Lawson’s car, and he was seventh in FP1. That result doesn’t give a clean read on the wing, with programmes and conditions different across the field. Red Bull moved from Reliability items in Madrid to a Performance floor, and Cadillac brought a brake cooling change.

Gasly, Hadjar and the Rest of the Field

Gasly’s seventh in FP2 put his Alpine 0.012s behind Norris’s McLaren. Hadjar lost most of FP1 and needed a new gearbox, but finished FP2 ninth and set the fastest speed trap of the session at 339 km/h. Ocon was inside the top 10 in both sessions for Haas. At the other end, Aston Martin were 21st and 22nd in FP2, Alonso completing just nine laps.

Conditions and the Tyre Picture

FP2 ran from 16:00 local, the same slot as Friday’s qualifying, making it the closest conditions reference teams have for the session. Air held between 29.0°C and 29.6°C, while track temperature fell from 47.7°C at the start of the hour to 41.4°C at the flag.

FP1 ran from 12:30 local, FP3’s slot, with a hotter surface. Air sat between 28.1°C and 30.0°C and track temperature between 49.3°C and 51.2°C. Almost the whole field opened that session on the Hard.

Coffee Corner Take

Russell was the benchmark all day, and most of his margin came on the run back to the line. In FP2 he was the only driver in the top 10 below 24.6 seconds in the final sector, and his Medium long run sat in the 1:47s and low 1:48s.

Antonelli lost far more track time than Russell, 24 laps across the two sessions to Russell’s 47, after the hydraulic failure and engine change. He still ended FP2 0.552s off with a Medium run that got quicker every lap. Antonelli now has to use FP3 to cover the long-run and setup work he missed on Thursday, as well as his qualifying preparation.

Ferrari’s FP1 pace came on the harder tyre. Leclerc and Hamilton were third and fourth on the Medium, within 0.437s of Russell’s Soft lap, and their Soft runs in FP2 got quicker lap by lap. Verstappen is close too, second and third across the two sessions in a car he said had him constantly counter-steering.

McLaren’s day is harder to read. The floor damage means Thursday isn’t a clean measure of the new package, and Marshall says the car is behaving as the simulations predicted. Norris, though, was the slowest of the top 10 through the speed trap and says they’re losing out on this layout. The question for Friday is whether setup changes can recover that deficit before qualifying.