2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP: The starting lineup for the race  

George Russell secured pole position in dominant fashion during the Azerbaijan GP qualifying on Friday with a 1:42.526 lap. The Briton beat Charles Leclerc in P2 by a massive eight-tenths of a second to claim his first pole position since the Austrian GP.

Following them was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in P3, while Isack Hadjar qualified in an impressive P4 in his first race weekend back driving for Red Bull following his wrist injury. Lando Norris secured P5 but was unable to improve on his final lap as he locked up and went into the run-off area at Turn 3.

Lewis Hamilton qualified in P6, while Pierre Gasly was able to get himself into P7 in qualifying. Max Verstappen, who was looking quick throughout qualifying, qualified in a disappointing P8 after being hindered by yellow flags behind the aforementioned incident involving Norris.

Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto for Alpine rounded off the top 10 in qualifying on Friday. The biggest upset during the session came from Kimi Antonelli, who crashed in Q1 and will start Saturday’s race from P16.

Let’s take a look at the complete starting grid for the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP.

The starting lineup for the F1 Azerbaijan GP

#1 George Russell – Mercedes

#2 Charles Leclerc – Scuderia Ferrari

#3 Oscar Piastri – McLaren

#4 Isack Hadjar – Red Bull Racing

#5 Lando Norris – McLaren

#6 Lewis Hamilton – Scuderia Ferrari

#7 Pierre Gasly – Alpine

#8 Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing

#9 Carlos Sainz – Williams*

#10 Franco Colapinto – Alpine

#11 Ollie Bearman – Haas F1

#12 Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls

#13 Alex Albon – Williams

#14 Esteban Ocon – Haas F1

#15 Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls

#16 Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes

#17 Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi

#18 Nico Hulkenberg – Audi

#19 Sergio Perez – Cadillac

#20 Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac

#21 Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin

#22 Lance Stroll – Aston Martin

*Carlos Sainz is under investigation for a yellow flag infringement.

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George Russell left satisfied after claiming pole position at the Azerbaijan GP

George Russell shared his feelings following his pole position lap during the Azerbaijan GP qualifying, as the driver explained that his car felt fantastic throughout qualifying. This is the Mercedes driver’s fifth pole position in 2026 and his 12th in his career.

Speaking in the post-qualifying interview, Russell said:

“It’s been a while, it’s been a while! So it definitely feels good. It’s probably the biggest margin in my whole career and even including the F2 and F3 days. So that felt really sweet. The car’s been feeling great this weekend and on a track like this, when you can hug it up like that, it feels really amazing.”

George Russell also added that his final lap in Q3 was “perfect.” But the driver also mentioned Max Verstappen being hindered by the yellow flags on his final run, noting that the gap could have been less if the Dutchman was able to get his final lap in.