George Russell looks to cut Kimi Antonelli's championship lead as he looks to take his blistering pace in qualifying into Saturday's race, and you can follow it live with ESPN.
Russell clinched pole position with a sensational lap for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver crossed the line over eight-tenths faster than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in second.
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Russell will be looking to capatalise on his teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli who hit the wall in the opening session of qualifying. The Italian youngster starts down in P16.
Oscar Piastri will start on the second row in third in his heavily-upgraded McLaren.
Isack Hadjar follows behind in the Red Bull and impressed after returning from a wrist injury that saw him miss the last three races.
McLaren's Lando Norris rounded out the top five before stopping in the closing stages.
"It's been a while, so it definitely feels good," Russell said of his first pole position since the Austrian Grand Prix in June. "It's probably the biggest margin in my whole career, even including F2, F3 days.
"So the lap felt really sweet, the car's been feeling great this weekend. And on a track like this, when you can hug it up like that, it feels really amazing."
He added: "I think the performance outside today was great, but, you know, he [Antonelli] has been flawless this whole season," Russell said. "I think when you look at every championship campaign, even for the winners, there are mistakes along the way. So, yeah, I still keep on believing and keep on fighting until it isn't possible anymore."
