Max third in Baku after Thursday practice: 'A good start for us'

Published on 24 September 2026 by Stefan Meens

Following a second place in the opening practice session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was third fastest in FP2. Mercedes remained the benchmark with George Russell quickest in both Thursday practices. His teammate, and championship leader, Kimi Antonelli finished the day as the second fastest. The Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc completed the top five.

“It was actually a pretty good day”, said Max. “I’m pretty happy with the car. We’ll have to fine tune a few things and try to find some more lap time. But in general, it’s been a good start with the updates behaving the way we expected.”

At the start of the session, the track remains relatively quiet, but when the drivers start taking to the streets of Baku, Max is the early pace setter on the medium Pirelli tyres. Ten minutes into the session, Lando Norris goes top, but the McLaren driver is quickly relegated to P2 after Max puts an improved lap. Moments later, George Russell joins the fight for first with the two Brits and the Dutchman trading fastest laps.

The first red flag of the session is waved twenty minutes in, following a crash at the narrow Castle section. Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad has hit the barrier and gives his mechanics a busy night to repair the damage.

With half an hour to go, the session resumes with most drivers switching to the soft tyres. Leclerc is the first to clock a competitive time, soon followed by Russell who goes top. Max puts in a strong first lap on the softs to go second. Antonelli shows that the Mercedes pace is no fluke and splits Max and Russell to claim P2.

In the closing stages, Max ventures back out on a used set of softs for long runs in preparation for Saturday’s Grand Prix. Most of the other drivers are also working towards the race, meaning the lap times no longer improve. It means Mercedes end Thursday in Baku on top, with Max as best of the rest.

Results second free practice Azerbaijan: