George Russell (Mercedes) will start from first position this Saturday at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, fifteenth of the Formula One World Championship, after dominating the qualifying session held on the Baku street circuit.
The British driver, second in the championship, achieved his twelfth pole in Formula 1 and his fifth of the season. Russell set a time of 1:42.526 in Q3, beating Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) by 837 thousandths, who will complete the front row.
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) will occupy the second row, while Lando Norris (McLaren), current champion, and Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), seven-time world champion, will start from the third.
Pierre Gasly (Alpine) will be seventh and Max Verstappen (Red Bull), four-time world champion, will start eighth. The Spanish Carlos Sainz (Williams) will start ninth, although an investigation is pending for a possible irregularity during a yellow flag period. At his side will be the Argentine Franco Colapinto (Alpine), tenth.
The big surprise was the elimination of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Italian, leader of the championship with 81 points of advantage over Russell, suffered damage to the left front suspension during Q1 and could not participate in Q2, so he will start the race from sixteenth position.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled for 51 laps on the 6,003 kilometers of the Baku track, to complete a total distance of 306 kilometers. The race will begin this Saturday at 1:00 p.m., Spanish peninsular time.
