Pole for George in Baku

• George Russell claimed pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, securing his 12^th career pole with a lap of 1:42.526.

• Team-mate Kimi Antonelli will start P16 due to retiring the car after contact with the wall at Turn 1 in Q1 brought an early end to his qualifying session.

• This morning's practice session focused on single lap work and final qualifying preparations, with George ending FP3 in P2 and Kimi P4 as the team continued to evaluate tyre performance.

• George progressed comfortably through Q1 and Q2, topping both segments as the pace advantage shown throughout the weekend continued into qualifying.

• A commanding performance in Q3 saw George secure pole position by more than eight-tenths of a second from Charles Leclerc, with Oscar Piastri taking third.

• George topped the timing screens with a 1:42.526; Leclerc and Piastri completed the top three on the grid for Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

George Russell

That lap was unbelievable. Given how tight things have been all weekend, I was shocked when I saw the gap. The lap felt incredibly good, but I certainly wasn't expecting that result.

The plan was always to stay on the same set of tyres. The first run was a banker because I knew there was more time to find, and I wanted to push the limits on the second lap. Everything came together. The car felt really hooked up and I was able to get the most out of it.

With Max, both Ferraris and Kimi all looking strong this weekend, it's going to be important to get a good start, maximise every opportunity and execute a clean race. I've felt good in every session and that qualifying lap was one of the most satisfying I've done. The focus now is on tomorrow and making sure we convert today's result into the best possible outcome.

Kimi Antonelli

First of all, congratulations to George. He's done an great job all weekend and fully deserves pole position.

On my side, it's obviously frustrating because the car felt good from FP3 onwards and the pace was there. We had a stronger headwind into Turn One than on the previous lap and the grip level had changed quite a lot, so the car had more grip than I expected. It's a shame because I felt we had enough pace to get through comfortably and fight further up the order. I tried my best to bring the car back to the pits, but unfortunately the damage was too much. The team made the right call to stop the car and protect it.

The positive is that we've shown strong pace all weekend and the car has felt good. Starting further back will make things difficult at a track where overtaking isn't easy, but I've shown before that I can bounce back from setbacks and my focus is already on tomorrow. We'll do everything we can to move forward, score good points and maximise the result for the team.

Bradley Lord, Deputy Team Principal

That was an amazing lap from George! He topped every segment of qualifying, honed his approach with each lap, and then delivered a dominant lap when it mattered most. We approached qualifying like a wet session, aiming to be on track throughout and not at the mercy of yellow flags, and that included being first car on track in Q3 - and the first car to complete the session. George executed everything cleanly and thoroughly deserved pole.

Tomorrow won't be straightforward. Around Baku, the tow and energy deployment characteristics of these cars make it difficult to control the race from the front, so there will be plenty to manage across the distance. But his target is absolutely clear.

It was a frustrating session for Kimi, particularly given the pace he and the car have shown all weekend. He clipped the wall in Turn One after the car gripped up more than he expected as he committed to the corner, and Race Control instructed him to park the car shortly after. Incidents like this are part and parcel of a long season and can happen around a street circuit like this where the margins are small; it's another moment of learning.

Kimi has shown several times this season that he is able to put setbacks behind him quickly. The pace has been there throughout the weekend, and the objective tomorrow will be to recover as many positions as possible. The team will repair and prepare the car, and we're confident he can fight his way forward in the race.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

Congratulations to George and the team on a well deserved pole. He has been strong all weekend and looked to take another step into qualifying. By the final session it didn't look like there was anyone to challenge him and his final lap was exceptional.

Kimi had a tough time with a mistake that took him out of the running from early in Q1 when he misjudged the entry to Turn 1. He's clearly disappointed, especially having seen the potential that was in the car today, but we'll look at plans that allow him to mount a strong recovery.

With George we need to see if we've got the pace to control the race, but even if that is strong, it can be a difficult race to manage given the risk of incidents coupled with the fact that we may be having to cover off numerous threats from behind.

The car has been competitive from the first session and that's given us a great opportunity tomorrow. Converting that into a strong result won't be straightforward around Baku, but we've put ourselves in a good position and now need to execute cleanly across the whole race.

FP3 Result

Qualifying Result