Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes crashed during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, hitting a wall after misjudging grip conditions, which will result in him starting Saturday’s race from 16th position. Antonelli admitted his mistake was “stupid” and credited it as a reminder to stay focused throughout the season. His teammate George Russell secured pole position, positioning himself to potentially close the 81-point championship gap with Antonelli ahead of the race on Saturday.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-27,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Kimi Antonelli surprisingly crashed out during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, hitting the wall at the first corner and damaging his car's suspension, placing him 16th on the grid. His teammate George Russell secured pole position, despite Antonelli leading the Formula 1 standings by 81 points after 14 rounds.
Russell expressed confidence in his car's performance around the Baku City Circuit but acknowledged that Antonelli remains a threat due to previous performances from behind the starting grid. The race is set for Saturday, September 26, at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan, with temperatures expected to be warm and sunny. Apple TV offers a seven-day free trial to watch the race live streaming exclusively in the United States. Mercedes’ George Russell will start first ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Oscar Piastri from McLaren starts third. The longest straight on the F1 calendar at Baku City Circuit highlights the importance of straight-line speed for this event. Despite Antonelli's poor qualifying position, he remains the championship leader and a contender for victory. Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jr., Esteban Ocon, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Arvid Lindblad, Oliver Bearman, Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Kimi Antonelli, and others will also compete. The race is an early one for U.S. viewers starting at 7 a.m. ET on September 26. Despite the large point deficit, Russell aims to narrow it with a strong performance in Baku.
Written for “Azerbaijan Grand Prix” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 11 other(s) covering the same event.
- Published
Kimi Antonelli says his crash in qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was "stupid" and "a good way to come back to earth" as he pursues his first world title.
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he → say → title
The Mercedes driver, who has been running away with the championship this season, hit a wall in first qualifying in Baku and will start Saturday's race 16th.
Team-mate George Russell, his closest pursuer in the title race, starts from pole after a dominant performance.
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Russell → run → performance
Antonelli said: "I misjudged with the grip being so different compared to the first lap.
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grip → say → lap
I hit the wall.
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I → hit → wall
"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."
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I → come → mistakes
He added that he was "very mad about it".
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he → add → it
The 20-year-old Italian has been on the back foot all weekend, fighting to make up for time lost to a reliability problem in practice on Thursday.
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Italian → fight → Thursday
His Mercedes suffered a hydraulic leak halfway through the first session and the car was not ready for him to go back out on track until halfway through the second session.
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him → suffer → session
Antonelli was 0.252secs behind Russell in final practice on Friday, 0.092secs quicker than the Briton after his first lap in qualifying and then made his mistake on his second.
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Antonelli → make → second
His error brought back memories of last year's grand prix in Baku, which proved to be a turning point in the 2025 championship.
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which → bring → championship
McLaren's Oscar Piastri appeared on course for his first world title heading into this race, leading team-mate Lando Norris by 31 points.
But the Australian crashed in qualifying, jumped the start and then crashed out of the race on the first lap, and his season came off the rails after that.
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season → appear → that
Antonelli's error gives Russell, who is 81 points adrift in the championship, a second chance in three races to narrow his deficit to the Italian.
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who → give → Italian
But the Briton has sounded resigned to losing out on the title for some time and he referred back to Antonelli's stunning drive at the Italian Grand Prix, which he won after starting 19th on the grid because of a penalty.
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he → sound → penalty
Russell said: "You can't discount Kimi.
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You → say → 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
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he → know → laps
Russell also pointed out that this was the first significant mistake Antonelli had made in a competitive session all year.
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Antonelli → point → session
Asked if he believed Antonelli's mistake was a result of "title jitters", Russell said: "When you look at every championship campaign, even for the winners, there are mistakes along the way.
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you → ask → way
"So, I still keep on believing and keep on fighting until it isn't possible any more.
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it → keep → ?
But I don't feel any pressure.
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I → feel → pressure
"I feel excitement every time I jump in the car now, purely because I feel more confident in myself.
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I → feel → myself
"When that confidence starts to build, it's just like this upward cycle.
"
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it → start → 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.
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mistakes → start → limits
It's the first mistake he's made in a qualifying or race this whole year."
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he → make → qualifying
The Baku street circuit has a long straight that affords good overtaking possibilities and has a reputation for producing incident-packed races.
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that → have → races
Asked about potential challengers in the race, in addition to Antonelli, Russell said Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who qualified eighth after a difficult session, "is going to be a threat".
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who → ask → session
Verstappen, who was quickest in final practice just ahead of Russell, suffered a string of problems that he said had stopped him taking a place on the front row alongside the Mercedes.
"The whole qualifying was not how it should be," he said.
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he → suffer → Mercedes
"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.
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they → compare → mate
"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.
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that → charge → temp
"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."
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we → try → me
The Dutchman added: "The whole weekend we were running really well and then we run into so much trouble in qualifying.
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we → add → qualifying
"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.
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we → look → that
"But when you have that many issues you also don't deserve to be there.
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you → have → issues
We need to be more robust and we need to be on top of these things."
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we → need → things
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