George Russell has stamped his authority on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, topping the timesheets in both Friday sessions at the Baku City Circuit. After a strong start to the day, the Mercedes driver dominated FP2, leaving the rest of the field struggling to match his blistering pace as the street circuit took its toll on several competitors.
The session, however, was marred by a series of interruptions and a post-session visit to the stewards for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
The opening phase of the afternoon belonged to Max Verstappen, who led the early charge on medium tyres. The Dutchman looked comfortable, carving out a slim 0.045s advantage over Russell. However, the rhythm of the session was shattered when Arvid Lindblad lost control in the tricky Castle section. The Racing Bulls driver suffered a heavy crash, triggering a red flag that brought proceedings to a halt and left his car significantly damaged.
Once the track was cleared, misfortune struck again, this time for Haas’ Oliver Bearman. A suspected power unit failure forced the Briton to abandon his car in the run-off area of the same narrow section that claimed Lindblad. While the incident only required a yellow flag, it effectively ended Bearman’s afternoon.
As the session resumed in earnest, Russell found a rhythm that his rivals could not mirror. With 20 minutes remaining, he lowered his benchmark to a 1:43.759, an effort that moved him nearly half a second clear of Verstappen. Russell wasn’t finished there, though. In a display of pure pace, he shaved another four-tenths off his own time, clocking a 1:43.347. By the time the chequered flag fell, he sat a staggering eight-tenths of a second ahead of the chasing pack.
While Russell celebrated a commanding day, teammate Lewis Hamilton faced a tense wait with the FIA stewards. In the dying moments of the session, Hamilton was involved in a high-speed near-miss with Liam Lawson on the long start-finish straight. Lawson, approaching at speeds exceeding 300 km/h, was forced to take evasive action, leading to a furious radio outburst from the Racing Bulls driver, who labeled the situation “so f**king dangerous.” The stewards are now reviewing whether Hamilton failed to move aside, with the seven-time champion potentially facing a grid penalty or reprimand depending on their findings.
As the dust settled, Kimi Antonelli managed to vault into second place, though he remained over half a second adrift of Russell’s rapid pace. Max Verstappen completed the top three, finishing eight-tenths off the leading Mercedes. With such a significant gap already established by the frontrunner, the rest of the field faces an uphill battle to bridge the deficit before Saturday’s qualifying session.
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