Mercedes’ George Russell topped the opening two practice sessions at the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.
Russell faced competition from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen throughout both sessions but emerged quickest ahead of teammate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli come the end of the second practice session.
FP1
Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad was first on track but soon pitted and left Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to post 1m 54.395 as the initial benchmark on the hard tyre.
Verstappen topped the opening set of fliers with 1m 49.202 in the sixth minute but Leclerc two minutes later found 0.177 seconds, only for Verstappen to respond with 1m 46.635 in the tenth minute.
Verstappen then laid 1m 46.512 as the benchmark time before Mercedes’ Antonelli posted 1m 46.265 in the 17th minute to top the opening half hour, although a hydraulic issue forced him to stop at Turn Seven in the 24th minute.
Verstappen and Russell switched to a soft-tyre qualifying simulation but both locked up and ran deep at Turns One and Three respectively on their first attempt in the 29th minute.
Verstappen on his second attempt posted 1m 45.787 to go quickest in the 35th minute but four minutes later, Russell found 0.400s to top the opening practice with 1m 45.387 from the former four-time champion.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m 45.387 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.400 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.404 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.437 |
| 5 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.878 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.011 |
| 7 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 1.053 |
| 8 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 1.214 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.237 |
| 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 1.301 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 1.484 |
| 12 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 1.506 |
| 13 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.552 |
| 14 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.594 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.607 |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.656 |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 1.866 |
| 18 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 2.136 |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 2.448 |
| 20 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | + 2.486 |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 3.160 |
| 22 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 3.928 |
FP2
Gasly was the first driver to hit the track and set 1m 48.353 as the initial benchmark time which was soon beaten, as Verstappen topped the first set of fliers with 1m 45.933 on medium tyres.
Russell fell 0.011s shy of the Dutchman on his second attempt on the same tyre compound, whilst Norris on the hard tyre posted 1m 45.184 to go quickest in the ninth minute.
Verstappen and Russell however traded fastest laps and the former won out by 0.045s in the 14th minute with 1m 44.492, before red flags came out five minutes later after Lindblad clipped the wall at Turns 8 and 10 through the twisty quick Castle section in sector two.
The session resumed on the half-hour mark with soft-tyre qualifying simulations but Bearman’s power unit suddenly shut down as he left the pits, which forced the Brit to safely park his Haas down the escape road at Turn Two.
Leclerc meanwhile was the first driver to beat Verstappen’s medium-tyre time with 1m 44.473 in the 37th minute, but Russell seconds later posted 1m 43.759 to go quickest.
The Brit then lowered his benchmark time by 0.412s to 1m 43.347 to top the session in the 43rd minute, whilst Antonelli fell 0.552s shy in second after he missed the first 30 minutes due to a change of his power unit elements.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m 43.347 |
| 2 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.552 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.827 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.126 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 1.318 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.484 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.496 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.510 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | + 1.521 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.943 |
| 11 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 2.132 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 2.334 |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 2.413 |
| 14 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 2.447 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 2.507 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 2.776 |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 2.874 |
| 18 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 3.044 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 3.390 |
| 20 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 3.454 |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 4.056 |
| 22 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 4.542 |
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