George Russell Wins in Baku by Just 0.1 Seconds Ahead of Verstappen

George Russell secured his third Formula 1 victory of the season, triumphing at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after leading the race from start to finish.

However, the Briton's win was hard-fought, as Max Verstappen relentlessly pressured him for the lead in the closing laps. At the checkered flag, only 0.196 seconds separated the two, with Verstappen getting an unexpected chance to attack on the final lap. This came after Valtteri Bottas crashed at Turn 15, causing Russell to significantly slow down under yellow flags, while Verstappen passed through slightly faster, closing the gap before the long start-finish straight. Russell, however, maintained enough speed to hold onto first place.

Third on the podium in Baku was Isack Hadjar, who made an excellent return to Formula 1 after a brief injury absence. Charles Leclerc finished fourth, and championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli climbed to fifth place after starting 16th.

Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, ahead of Arvid Lindblad, Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman, and Carlos Sainz, who completed the points-scoring positions. Nico Hülkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto, Oscar Piastri, and Sergio Pérez also reached the finish line in the chaotic Baku race.

With his victory in Baku, Russell managed to cut 15 points from his deficit to Antonelli in the overall standings, now trailing his Italian teammate by 66 points in the title fight. Lewis Hamilton rounds out the top three, 103 points behind the leader.

In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes leads with 538 points, a commanding 160-point advantage over Ferrari. McLaren holds third place with 306 points, leading Red Bull by 43 points in the battle for third.

The 2026 Formula 1 season continues next week with the Bahrain Grand Prix, held at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia from October 2nd to 4th.

Highlights from the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix:

Start - Russell had an excellent start, with no issues in the sprint to the first corner, maintaining his lead ahead of Piastri, who overtook Leclerc. Norris also gained a position, passing Hadjar early on. Further back, Antonelli lost a spot after being overtaken by Hülkenberg.

Lap 1/51 - By the end of the first lap, Russell had pulled out a lead of nearly 1.5 seconds over Piastri, who was 0.6 seconds ahead of Leclerc. Antonelli remained in 17th after a cautious start.

Lap 2/51 - Hadjar attempted to reclaim the position he lost to Norris at Turn 1 but was unsuccessful. Behind them, Verstappen overtook Hamilton with a late lunge into Turn 3.

Lap 3/51 - Norris lost two positions, first being overtaken by Hadjar at the end of the start-finish straight, and then by Verstappen under braking into Turn 3.

Lap 4/51 - Hadjar attacked and passed Leclerc at Turn 1, but the Ferrari driver successfully countered him in the second corner before Hadjar attacked again on the back straight, completing the move this time. Meanwhile, Antonelli finally began to make progress, overtaking Hülkenberg for 16th place.

Lap 5/51 - The second Red Bull also overtook Leclerc, with Verstappen finding it much easier to pass the Monegasque than his teammate Hadjar. Antonelli passed Sainz to enter the top 15.

Lap 6/51 - Antonelli also dispatched Lindblad, climbing to 14th place. Up front, Hadjar and Piastri began to pressure Piastri, who was now 2.9 seconds behind Russell.

Lap 7/51 - Verstappen, on medium tires, overtook his teammate Hadjar, who was on softs, to move into second place. The Dutchman was also aided by an instruction to Hadjar not to hold each other up.

Lap 8/51 - Piastri reported over the radio that he was starting to experience issues with his rear tires. The Australian was on the soft compound, unlike Russell and Verstappen, who were on mediums.

Lap 9/51 - Verstappen was now right on Piastri's tail, whose gap to Russell had grown to 4.5 seconds. At the back, Stroll was instructed to stop his car due to a mechanical issue. The Canadian pulled off into the run-off area at Turn 15, but was in a safe position, negating the need for a safety car, unlike the incident that turned the Madrid race on its head two weeks prior.

Lap 10/51 - Antonelli took 13th position, overtaking Ocon in the Haas. However, the championship leader was now almost 24 seconds behind his teammate Russell, who continued to lead comfortably.

Lap 12/51 - Antonelli passed Albon, who had made a mistake at Turn 1 a lap earlier, losing a position to Lawson, who was the championship leader's next target.

Lap 13/51 - Lawson posed no problem for Antonelli, who for the first time in the race attacked a driver without the overtake mode available. The Italian now faced a 3.7-second gap to Bearman in 10th place.

Lap 15/51 - After 15 laps, Russell led Piastri by 7.2 seconds, with both Red Bull drivers, Verstappen and Hadjar, right behind the Australian. Antonelli caught Bearman, with the Italian 28.3 seconds behind Russell.

Lap 16/51 - A mistake by Norris at Turn 5 allowed Hamilton to close in for sixth place. The seven-time champion couldn't overtake his compatriot in the narrowest part of the Baku track. On the start-finish straight, this changed, and Hamilton passed the reigning champion with the help of the overtake mode to climb to sixth.

Lap 17/51 - Antonelli finally entered the points, overtaking Bearman under braking into Turn 1. The championship leader's next target was Colapinto, who was just over 5 seconds ahead.

Lap 20/51 - Hadjar closed dangerously on his teammate Verstappen, forcing the four-time champion to make a defensive move at Turn 1. Seconds later, Verstappen complained about his tires' behavior, having fallen over a second behind Piastri and thus unable to use the overtake mode.

Lap 23/51 - Antonelli's methodical progress continued, as the Italian had no trouble with Colapinto and moved up to ninth position. The next driver ahead of the championship leader was Gasly, who was 6.8 seconds in front.

Lap 25/51 - Russell asked his team to check his tires after he touched the wall on the exit of Turn 15. The Briton was reassured that the pressure in each tire was fine.

Lap 26/51 - At the halfway point, Russell held a 9.8-second advantage over Piastri, who was 1.3 seconds ahead of Verstappen. Further back, Antonelli was in ninth position, 33.4 seconds behind his teammate Russell.

Lap 27/51 - Verstappen again had to defend from Hadjar, who was visibly performing better on track, despite being on softer tires which theoretically should have been in worse condition. The Frenchman received permission from the team to attack, but with the condition of keeping it clean.

Lap 28/51 - Verstappen began to lose patience and wanted to pit for soft tires, but his engineer told him to be more patient.

Lap 30/51 - A mistake by Norris at Turn 1 sent the world champion into the run-off area and cost him two positions, as he was overtaken by Gasly and Antonelli, rejoining the track in ninth place.

Safety Car! Albon spun off at Turn 5 and crashed into the barriers, necessitating a safety car period.

As expected, the safety car triggered a flurry of pit stops, with virtually all drivers coming in for tire changes at this point in the race. Russell maintained his lead ahead of Piastri, Verstappen, Hadjar, Leclerc, Hamilton, Gasly, Antonelli, Norris, and Colapinto, who made up the points-scoring positions.

Lap 33/51 - After the pit stops, Russell, Verstappen, Gasly, Antonelli, Norris, Colapinto, Lindblad, Bortoleto, Hülkenberg, Pérez, Sainz, and Bottas were on soft tires, while everyone else was on mediums. Sainz and Bottas were the only ones who pitted earlier and didn't wait for the safety car, with Sainz making a second stop after the neutralization of the race.

Lap 34/51 - The track was cleared, and the race director allowed the only lapped driver (Bottas) to overtake the field.

Lap 35/51 - Restart! As per regulations, the safety car pulled in, and the race resumed.

Lap 36/51 - Verstappen overtook Piastri. Further back, Colapinto misjudged his braking for Turn 1 and collected his teammate Gasly and Norris. Antonelli somehow managed to avoid the incident.

Safety Car! Predictably, after the incident at Turn 1, the safety car was deployed again to lead the field. Following the chaos at the restart, Russell led Verstappen, Piastri, Hadjar, Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Ocon, Bearman, Lindblad, Hülkenberg, Sainz, Bortoleto, Pérez, Lawson, and Bottas, who were the only remaining drivers in the race. There was also contact between Racing Bulls teammates Lawson and Lindblad at Turn 1 after the restart, caused by Lindblad.

Lap 38/51 - Restart! The safety zone at Turn 1 was cleared, and the Baku race resumed with 13 laps remaining.

Lap 39/51 - Hadjar attacked Piastri on the outside of Turn 1, but the Australian defended.

Lap 40/51 - Piastri locked both front tires under braking for Turn 1 in an attempt to defend from Hadjar. This sent the Australian into the run-off area and dropped him to 14th position.

Lap 41/51 - Russell managed to pull out a lead of just over a second from Verstappen, which denied the Red Bull driver the ability to use the overtake mode.

Lap 42/51 - Verstappen set a new fastest lap, closing back to within a second of Russell. Further back, Antonelli overtook Hamilton to climb to fifth position.

Lap 44/51 - At the front, Verstappen continued to pressure Russell for the lead, with the two having pulled out over 5 seconds on Hadjar. Meanwhile, Verstappen was flagged for an infringement, specifically for not following the race director's instructions.

Lap 46/51 - With five laps remaining, Russell led Verstappen by just 0.5 seconds, with Hadjar 6.3 seconds behind them. The Frenchman held a 1.3-second advantage over Leclerc, and Antonelli was 2.9 seconds behind the Ferrari driver. In his pursuit of Russell, Verstappen had repeatedly touched the wall on the entry to Turn 16, trying to maximize the corner exit and accelerate better onto the long start-finish straight.

Lap 48/51 - A very strong second sector from Russell left Verstappen without the overtake mode, as the gap between them was over a second at the detection point.

Lap 49/51 - The stewards announced they would not further investigate Verstappen for the alleged infringement earlier.

Lap 50/51 - Russell briefly lost control mid-corner at Turn 1 but caught his car, avoiding a collision with the barrier.

Lap 51/51 - Bottas crashed at Turn 15, forcing Russell to slow sharply and giving Verstappen a chance to close dangerously before the final run to the start-finish straight.

Finish - George Russell won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by less than 0.2 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, with Isack Hadjar completing the podium in Baku.