F1 Qualifying Results: 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix positions and times from Baku

Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Ferrari, Hungary, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

F1 Qualifying Results: 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix positions and times from Baku

All the results from qualifying in Baku

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Friday 25 September 2026 15:13 Updated: 19:39

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George Russell took pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by nearly a full second in Friday afternoon's qualifying session.

Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri will start second and third respectively, but their lap times were more than eight tenths of a second slower than the utterly dominant Russell's best time.

The door was blown wide open for the Brit to have a productive weekend earlier in the session when his team-mate, championship leader Kimi Antonelli, hit the wall in Turn 1 during Q1 to end his session and put him 16th on the grid for Saturday's race.

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Max Verstappen had looked like the closest challenger to the Mercedes drivers throughout practice and the earlier parts of qualifying, but caught a yellow flag at the worst possible moment on his final flying lap – having to back right out and landing just eighth.

Remarkably, Carlos Sainz put his Williams through into Q3 for the first time this season, eventually qualifying ninth, with his team-mate Alex Albon 13th.

F1 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying Results

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying Results
Pos	Driver	Team	Gap
1	George Russell	Mercedes	1:42.526s
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.837s
3	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.838s
4	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	+0.974s
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.146s
6	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+1.332s
7	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.521s
8	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+1.555s
9	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+2.040s
10	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+2.437s
ELIMINATED IN Q2
11	Ollie Bearman	Haas	ELIMINATED IN Q2
12	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	ELIMINATED IN Q2
13	Alex Albon	Williams	ELIMINATED IN Q2
14	Esteban Ocon	Haas	ELIMINATED IN Q2
15	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	ELIMINATED IN Q2
16	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	ELIMINATED IN Q2
ELIMINATED IN Q1
17	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	ELIMINATED IN Q1
18	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	ELIMINATED IN Q1
19	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	ELIMINATED IN Q1
20	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	ELIMINATED IN Q1
21	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	ELIMINATED IN Q1
22	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	ELIMINATED IN Q1

Changes to F1 Qualifying in 2026

There are a couple of changes to the way qualifying works this year, not quite as sweeping as the new technical regulations.

Firstly we now have 22 cars on the grid, so instead of five cars exiting after Q1 and Q2, we will have six being eliminated. That still leaves 10 for the pole shootout in Q3.

The other notable change lies in the timings - Q3 now gets an extra minute and lasts for 13 rather than 12.

Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Baku City Circuit