1. Practice in Baku

Russell Sets Fastest Time – and Antonelli Spins Out

Nachrichten
24.09.2026 04:35
Porträt von krone Sport
Von krone Sport

Mercedes driver George Russell set the fastest time in the first free practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli caused a moment of panic and triggered a virtual safety car when he had to pull over his car due to hydraulic problems and smoke.

A Mercedes belonging to championship leader Kimi Antonelli, with smoke billowing from the rear, was the defining image of the Formula 1 season opener in Azerbaijan. The 20-year-old Italian was forced to pull his car over early due to hydraulic problems during the frequently interrupted first practice session on the tight street circuit in Baku.

Antonelli ultimately finished the one-hour session in fifth place. His Mercedes teammate George Russell set the fastest time of 1:45.387 minutes.

Here are the results in detail:

Brake problems for Hadjar
In the World Championship standings, the Englishman trails Antonelli by 81 points. Behind Russell, Max Verstappen in the Red Bull finished second (+0.400 seconds). His teammate Isack Hadjar could only manage 20th place on his comeback due to brake problems. He had recently been sidelined for three races due to a hand injury.

The opening practice session on the demanding circuit had to be interrupted repeatedly because drivers’ cars broke down. For example, the rear brakes on Williams driver Carlos Sainz’s car caught fire, and Nico Hülkenberg struggled with the transmission in his Audi.

This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.

Loading...
00:00 / 00:00
Abspielen
Schließen
Aufklappen
kein Artikelbild
Loading...
Vorige 10 Sekunden
Zum Vorigen Wechseln
Abspielen
Zum Nächsten Wechseln
Nächste 10 Sekunden
00:00
00:00
1.0x Geschwindigkeit
Loading
Kommentare Banner - Die Stimme Österreichs

Liebe Leserin, lieber Leser,

die Kommentarfunktion steht Ihnen ab 6 Uhr wieder wie gewohnt zur Verfügung.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
das krone.at-Team

Hinweis in eigener Sache: Das krone.at-Forum präsentiert sich ab sofort in neuem Design! Wir freuen uns über konstruktives Feedback. Damit die Diskussionen in den Kommentarbereichen beim jeweiligen Thema bleiben, können Sie uns Rückmeldungen hier hinterlassen.

Kostenlose Spiele
Vorteilswelt

Magazine der Kronen Zeitung