Piastri qualifies third as Russell takes Baku pole

Oscar Piastri qualified third for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Friday, September 25, as McLaren recovered from a difficult practice showing to find unexpected speed. George Russell took pole position for Mercedes, finishing 0.838 seconds ahead of Piastri, while Charles Leclerc placed second just 0.001 seconds ahead of the Australian. Lando Norris qualified fifth. Piastri said he was surprised by McLaren’s qualifying pace after the team had struggled earlier in the weekend. The result put him in a strong starting position, but he said Russell’s advantage made a challenge for pole-winning pace appear unlikely. Piastri described McLaren’s race pace as encouraging and said he expected to compete with the group behind Russell, including Ferrari and Red Bull. The race outcome, and whether the team’s longer-run pace would translate into a challenge, remained unknown after qualifying. McLaren’s improvement came amid reported difficulties with an upgrade part. Chief designer Rob Marshall said the team found a crack in a component and added cable ties to prevent it from worsening. Piastri said the car had run with the ties on Friday and described the weekend as difficult.