Starting Grid For The 2026 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix After Penalties

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George Russell of Mercedes-AMG Petronas celebrates his pole position during qualifying of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan, on September 25, 2026. (Photo by Andrea Diodato/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

NurPhoto via Getty Images

George Russell produced a dominant display in Friday’s qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to take his fifth pole position of the season.

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The Mercedes man’s final effort of 1m 42.526s comfortably put him at the top of the timesheets more than eight tenths of a second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc - the biggest pole margin of the season so far.

Now Russell has a good chance on Saturday to make inroads into the 81-point deficit to his teammate and title favorite Kimi Antonelli, who crashed out of the first qualifying run after what he described as a “very stupid” mistake.

“A very unnecessary mistake,” said Antonelli after his qualifying exit. “Obviously I misjudged with the grip being so different compared to the first lap. I hit the wall, a very unnecessary mistake so early on.

“It’s a good way to come back to Earth and to remind myself that I need to be on top of it every time, because otherwise I do these mistakes, and a very stupid one.”

Oscar Piastri was the quickest McLaren driver on Friday, placing third on the timesheets - just a breath away from Leclerc at 0.001s.

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN - SEPTEMBER 25: Second placed qualifier Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Scuderia Ferrari gets out of the car in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on September 25, 2026 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

Getty Images

After being sidelined for three races due to a wrist injury, Isack Hadjar celebrated his return to his Red Bull seat with fourth place ahead of defending champion Lando Norris, who settled for fifth in the other McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton clocked the sixth-fastest time for Ferrari while Pierre Gasly’s Alpine took seventh and Max Verstappen placed eighth in the Red Bull.

Carlos Sainz originally claimed ninth for Williams but was later hit with a five-place grid penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags, dropping him down to P14.

The penalty moved Franco Colapinto’s Alpine up to ninth, while Oliver Bearman inherited 10th for Haas.

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Elsewhere, Sergio Perez of Cadillac has been penalized three places for impeding Piastri during qualifying. However he keeps his starting position of P20 due to the combined 50-place grid penalties handed to the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for Honda power unit changes.

Alonso carries a 30-place grid penalty for using additional power unit elements, while Stroll is penalized 20 places for the same reason.

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Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2026 Starting Grid

Here’s the starting order for Saturday’s race in Baku with penalties applied:

  1. George Russell (Mercedes): 1:42.526
  2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): +0.837
  3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren): +0.838
  4. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull): +0.974
  5. Lando Norris (McLaren): +1.146
  6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): +1.332
  7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine): +1.521
  8. Max Verstappen (Red Bull): +1.555
  9. Franco Colapinto (Alpine): +2.437
  10. Oliver Bearman (Haas): +2.249
  11. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): +2.334
  12. Alexander Albon (Williams): +2.475
  13. Esteban Ocon (Haas): +2.490
  14. Carlos Sainz (Williams): +2.040 *
  15. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls): +2.580
  16. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): +2.978
  17. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi): +3.273
  18. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi): +3.394
  19. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac): +5.764
  20. Sergio Perez (Cadillac): +4.132 *
  21. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): +4.067 *
  22. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): +4.811 *

* Sainz penalized five places for failing to slow for yellow flags.
* Perez penalized three places for impeding another driver.
* Alonso penalized 30 places for using additional power unit elements.
* Stroll penalized 20 places for using additional power unit elements.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix race starts at 3 p.m. local time on Saturday, September 26.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

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