F1 Qualifying Results for the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is the first race in a stretch of the final nine races of the 2026 Formula 1 Season over the course of 11 weeks — and what a track to start on. The Baku street course is known for its extreme straight-line speeds alongside the razor-thin walls of medieval castle sections.

Last time out at the inaugural, new location of the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, it was Lando Norris who put the car on pole – ultimately losing out to Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes. McLaren have played a game of ‘catch-up’ all season, trying to keep pace with the Mercedes teammates.

Notably, McLaren has arrived in Baku with a major upgrade package, hoping to maximize its results in the final section of the Formula 1 season. This weekend also sees major upgrades for Audi, Williams, and Cadillac.

In the end, it was George Russell and Mercedes who appeared to find his stride around the Baku City Circuit… but that was not the headline of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying Session.

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2026: Q1 Results

Halfway through Q1, the ‘excitement’ promised by the Baku Qualifying session started. Kimi Antonelli reported over the radio that he hit the wall, and that he did. Suspension and tire damage not only caused him to return to the pits, but also to retire entirely from the session. Luckily for Antonelli, the time he had already set was enough to get him through to Q2, where he will not take part.

The shock of the session is that Williams’ upgrades seem to have worked. The duo has rarely made it out of Q1 over the past handful of races, and with their final times in Q1, Albon shot up into the top 10.

Similarly, Audi’s upgrades were simply not enough to push them through to Q2. Their car has steadily decreased in performance throughout the season, but it was only two-tenths of a second separating Bortoleto from Lawson (VCARB) in P16, so the team will expect to push in race trim tomorrow.

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2026: Q2 Results

The biggest story of this session isn’t another front-runner falling victim to the walls of the Baku City Circuit, but a backmarker making it through to Q3. For the first time this season, Carlos Sainz in his Williams has made it to Q3, finishing Q2 in P10.

The team has said all season that their “B-spec” car would spell an entirely different season for them – finally able to cut down on the heavy and detrimental weight of the car they’ve had most of the season. At least for qualifying, that seems to be the case.

Another team continuing their forward momentum is Alpine. Both Colapinto and Gasly made it through to Q3, with Colapinto in a final-lap shootout with the Haas of Bearman. Alpine looks to continue their momentum that began in the middle of the season with several double-points finishes.

Again, our championship leader, Antonelli, did not take part in this session, so he will start in P16 tomorrow.

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2026: Pole and Q3 Results

George Russell put in a pole position lap that was described as “breathtaking”, pulling over an eight tenths of a second gap over Leclerc and Piastri in 2nd and 3rd. His last pole position was back in June in Barcelona – since then, he has seemed to lose out consistently to Antonelli and Norris.

Norris should have been a competitor for pole, but instead was outpaced by his teammate. After the session, it was shown that Norris had a 4-wheel lockup and had to bail into the runoff area on his final lap, missing out on his pole lap attempt.

In another notable performance, Isack Hadjar out-qualified his 4-time World Champion teammate, Max Verstappen, by over half a second. Hadjar has sat on the sidelines for the last three Grands Prix due to an injury, so this is a triumphant return for the young driver.

The 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix will begin at 8:00 a.m. EST tomorrow, Saturday, September 26th.

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