BAKU — George Russell completed an impressive practice double to head a dominant Mercedes start to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, outpacing championship-leading teammate Kimi Antonelli by 0.552 seconds in second practice on the streets of Baku. Russell, who also topped the opening session earlier on Thursday, built a half-second advantage around the challenging circuit, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen the only other driver within a second of his pace at 0.8s adrift.
"We lost quite a few laps in FP1 and missing half of FP2 is never ideal, especially on a street circuit," said Antonelli. "Overall, I feel like it was a good recovery. I feel quite good in the car. A few things to work on but looking forward to tomorrow." The Italian, who leads Russell by 81 points in the 2026 Drivers' Championship, endured a compromised Thursday after a hydraulic leak stopped his car midway through the opening session and forced an engine change, returning with just over 30 minutes left in the second session to climb to second. The recovery follows Kimi Antonelli saying his Silverstone test transformed his F1 mindset.
Verstappen took third in an upgraded Red Bull on a promising opening day, but everyone else finished more than a second off Russell's benchmark. Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and fifth respectively, while McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were sixth and eighth, with Norris describing McLaren's deficit to the front as "pretty pants". Pierre Gasly was seventh for Alpine, returning Isack Hadjar ninth for Red Bull and Esteban Ocon — whose Haas seat appears set to go elsewhere for 2027 — 10th quickest. Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad brought out Thursday's only red flag when he crashed in the narrow castle section.
The field returns for final practice in Baku on Friday at 9:30 a.m., with Qualifying at 1 p.m. live on Sky Sports F1, ahead of Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix at midday which opens a triple-header of races.