George Russell completed a Thursday practice sweep at the Baku City Circuit, topping FP2 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a best lap of 1m 43.347s — half a second clear of Mercedes team mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli, with Max Verstappen a further three tenths back in third.
Russell, who had also led FP1 earlier in the day, built his pace progressively through qualifying simulations on Pirelli’s soft compound tyre. Antonelli responded with a 1m 43.899s to secure second, while Verstappen — who spent much of the session complaining about his Red Bull’s handling — settled for third at 0.827s off the pace.
“I’m constantly counter-steering because my rear axle is coming off the ground,” Verstappen said over team radio during the session. The four-time world champion had set an early benchmark of 1m 45.115s on medium tyres before improving to 1m 44.492s, but was unable to match the Mercedes pace once soft tyres came into play.
Charles Leclerc finished fourth, 1.126s off Russell’s pace, with Lewis Hamilton fifth at 1.318s. Lando Norris, who backed out of a stronger lap late in the session, and Pierre Gasly in seventh for Alpine were among the notable names further down the order.
The session was interrupted twice. Arvid Lindblad brought out a red flag after crashing his Racing Bulls car heavily through the Turn 8/9 castle section. “I’m really sorry,” the British rookie said over the radio. “I think I literally clipped it by like a millimetre.” Lindblad, who also crashed during FP2 in Madrid, was collected by the Medical Car and returned to the paddock.
Shortly after the session resumed at 1629 local time, Haas lost Ollie Bearman to a mechanical failure. “My engine switched off and just… broke,” Bearman said, managing to park safely at the end of an escape road. Fernando Alonso’s running was also limited by a suspected oil leak, leaving the Aston Martin driver with minimal representative data.
The McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri ran with plastic cable ties as a makeshift fix for floorboard damage sustained in FP1, with Piastri finishing eighth. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg were 14th and 15th as the team evaluated a package of updates, ahead of the upgraded Williams cars of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. Teams will return to the circuit for the final practice hour on Friday at 1230 local time.