By: We witnessed some very unusual qualifying in Azerbaijan. After practice, a Mercedes significantly stronger than the other teams had been expected, but, truth be told, not by margins like these. Not with George Russell. Although Andrea Kimi Antonelli had been tipped as the favourite, the Italian has not really shone at any point this weekend. Baku is an engine circuit, however, and with Andrea running the power unit first used at Monza, more was expected.
The mistake he made at Turn 1 in Q1 compromised his qualifying and changed the course of his weekend. He will nevertheless have the chance to recover from P16 tomorrow. Attempting a Monza-style feat in Baku will be far more complicated, but it is not impossible that he can fight back and once again reach the podium places.
Mercedes go over the top in Baku
The most surprising aspect of qualifying was undoubtedly the performance George Russell managed to extract from his car. The Briton carried eight laps' worth of fuel and tackled Q3 with just one set of tyres, setting the fastest time on his final attempt. Very old tyres and an equally old power unit, nearing the end of its natural life. The eight-tenth gap he put over the second and third-placed drivers — Leclerc and Piastri respectively, separated by one thousandth — sends an alarming message to the rest of the field. The advantage is enormous and merely needs to be managed.
Ferrari and McLaren are close despite two completely different approaches to power unit management. The Woking team are starting to become a very imposing presence in Ferrari's mirrors. The papaya cars, which have recently looked increasingly strong at events held on circuits made up of medium- and low-speed corners, have taken a very significant step forward on fast tracks with the updates brought to Baku, aimed at reducing drag, read here.
A gap too large to sweep under the carpet
Looking at the telemetry, McLaren still have something to refine in terms of energy management compared with Mercedes. Piastri loses three tenths to Russell on the start-finish straight alone. Differences which, if they already appear huge in qualifying, will become even more apparent in the race. McLaren have made enormous strides, but if they want to be Mercedes' main rival in 2027, there is still a long way to go.
Unfortunately, Ferrari can only limit the damage with Leclerc. At Monza, we already saw that engine differences tend to emerge more in the race than in qualifying. So, even though Charles starts second, it will be very difficult for him to defend the position from the McLarens. We would be more than a little surprised if he managed it. Unfortunately, the engine deficit paid by the Maranello team on the straights is too large to be swept under the carpet. Not even here in Baku, the home of carpets, read here, would that be possible.
If Monza has taught us anything, tomorrow will not be an easy race at all for Leclerc and Hamilton. Surprises are welcome.
Cover photo by Finlay Williams / WHYOUT Images
Interior photo by Peter Kiss / WHYOUT Images
graphic by 'GPTempo.com'.
All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Azerbaijan GP 2026
