George Russell claimed pole position for Mercedes at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after team-mate Kimi Antonelli crashed into the wall during the first qualifying session in Baku. Russell was 0.837 seconds faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Antonelli will start Saturday’s race 16th after breaking his car’s suspension at Turn One.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri qualified third, ahead of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and McLaren’s Lando Norris. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was sixth after running without a tow from another car, followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Carlos Sainz qualified ninth for Williams, the team’s first top-10 qualifying result of the year, while Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was 10th.

Sainz was later given a five-place grid penalty for failing to slow for yellow caution flags. The penalty will promote him one place on the grid from his qualifying position. Williams introduced a new chassis in Baku that brought the car down to the weight limit for the first time this season, after it had been as much as 25 kilograms over the limit at the start of the year.

The new chassis and additional developments appear to have delivered a step forward for Williams, although Baku’s characteristics suit the car and do not expose its weaknesses. Team-mate Alex Albon qualified 13th, just under 0.4 seconds behind Sainz. Albon failed to secure a tow in the second part of qualifying and said he had been struggling with straight-line speed throughout the session.

Antonelli’s crash came on his second lap of the first session. He turned into the first corner too early, and his left-front wheel struck the inside wall, breaking the suspension. He initially tried to drive back to the pits, but Mercedes engineer Peter Bonnington told him to stop because the track rod or upright was broken and the team could not repair it before the next session.

“Let me try,” Antonelli pleaded as Bonnington told him the car could not be fixed in time. The 20-year-old Italian said the crash was “stupid” and “a good way to come back to earth” as he pursues his first world title. He said: “I misjudged with the grip being so different compared to the first lap. I hit the wall. Unnecessary mistake early on. So it's a good way to come back to earth and to remind myself I need to be on top of it every time because otherwise I do these mistakes and a very stupid one.” He added that he was “very mad about it”.

Antonelli had been trying to recover time lost to a reliability problem on Thursday. A hydraulic leak stopped his Mercedes halfway through the first practice session, and the car was not ready for him to return until halfway through the second session. He was 0.252 seconds behind Russell in final practice on Friday, then went 0.092 seconds faster than Russell on his first qualifying lap before making the mistake on his second.

Antonelli had been running away with the championship this season and leads Russell by 81 points. Russell’s pole gives him a second opportunity in three races to narrow the deficit. Russell has looked comfortable throughout the weekend and delivered on Mercedes’ strong pace at the Baku street circuit. It was his first pole since the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of June.

“That's probably the biggest margin I've had in my whole career,” Russell said. “The lap felt really sweet and the car has been feeling great all weekend.” Leclerc said he expected his qualifying position but not the size of the gap to Mercedes.

Antonelli’s crash was his first major mistake of the season since a heavy accident in final practice at the opening race in Australia. Russell called it the first error Antonelli had made in a qualifying session or race this year. Asked whether it reflected title jitters, Russell said: “When you look at every championship campaign, even for the winners, there are mistakes along the way.”

Russell added: “So, I still keep on believing and keep on fighting until it isn't possible any more. But I don't feel any pressure. I feel excitement every time I jump in the car now, purely because I feel more confident in myself. When that confidence starts to build, it's just like this upward cycle. On the flip side, when you're on the back foot, you start losing that confidence and then you start pushing the limits more, and that's when mistakes happen. But he's been flawless this season. It's the first mistake he's made in a qualifying or race this whole year.”

The crash brought back memories of the previous year’s Baku race, a turning point in the 2025 championship. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri had entered that event appearing on course for his first world title, 31 points ahead of team-mate Lando Norris. Piastri crashed in qualifying, jumped the start and then crashed out on the first lap of the race; his season faltered afterwards.

Russell’s closest championship rival, Antonelli, won the Italian Grand Prix after starting 19th because of a penalty. Russell joked about the Italian’s recovery from the back of the grid: “You can't discount Kimi. You know, started 19th in Monza and now he's in 16th, so, yeah, he should be leading by a few laps early this time.”

Verstappen qualified eighth after a difficult session, despite being fastest in final practice just ahead of Russell. He said he had hoped to compete for the front row but could not have beaten Russell. A tow or slipstream can be worth as much as 0.5 seconds at Baku, and Verstappen was following Norris on their final laps when the McLaren driver made a mistake and went off track, costing Verstappen an opportunity to benefit from the tow.

“The whole qualifying was not how it should be,” Verstappen said. “Already from Q1 the engine was 0.5secs down on the straight compared to my team-mate and they can't explain or understand why. So you're on the back foot. Then in Q3 on my middle lap my battery didn't charge to 100% so I had to abort the lap which means you lose tyre temp and around here that's killing. I tried to push... but being down on top speed and I had a yellow flag from Lando in front of me, [which] meant that's where we are.”

He added: “The whole weekend we were running really well and then we run into so much trouble in qualifying. It's not good enough. Looking at George's lap, I don't think we would have fought for pole but there is a big gap behind and we should have slotted in to that easily. But when you have that many issues you also don't deserve to be there. We need to be more robust and we need to be on top of these things.” Russell said Verstappen would be a threat in the race.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled for Saturday, 26 September, at 12:00 BST. BBC Radio 5 Live will carry live commentary, with coverage beginning at 11:00, and BBC Sport’s website and app will provide live text updates.

Based on reporting by BBC Sport.