Kimi Antonelli Crashes in Q1 as George Russell Takes F1 Azerbaijan GP Pole

Kimi Antonelli, the current Formula 1 championship leader, was eliminated in the first qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after hitting a wall at turn one in Baku. The incident occurred after only 11 minutes of running on Friday, when Antonelli was described as a little too eager into the 90-degree left-handed corner and clipped the barrier. His Mercedes teammate, George Russell, claimed pole position with a fine lap, finishing 0.837 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc.

Antonelli, who leads Russell by 81 points in the world championship and has won the last two races, sat disconsolately trackside after the uncharacteristic error. Russell’s pole position places him in a strong position to make up ground in the title chase during Saturday’s race.