George Russell won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by a tenth; the Mercedes driver looked in total control as he finished ahead of both Red Bulls. Russell’s strong weekend may be a turning point, as he held off Max Verstappen despite the Dutchman piling on pressure in the closing stages.
Up until the closing stages, Russell appeared to be in total control and on course for a dominant win, but Verstappen used Red Bull’s strong pace this weekend to stay with Russell in one of the closest finishes between the top two this season. Russell was never able to break free of the Red Bull after two late safety cars closed the field up and created an eleven-lap dash to the finish.
At the start, Russell made a good getaway to defend his lead on the short burst towards Lewis Corner (Turn One), with Piastri picking off second-starting Charles Leclerc. Russell started on medium tyres with his nearest rivals on softs, but tyre degradation wasn’t much of a factor on the low-impact street circuit, reducing race strategy to a simple one-stopper at the most opportune moment.
Verstappen finished over ten seconds ahead of Isack Hadjar, who secured Red Bull’s first double podium since Shanghai in 2024, a strong drive by the Frenchman who hasn’t raced since Budapest in July because of a wrist fracture in training,
Russell’s victory sees him cut his teammate Kimi Antonelli’s lead to sixty-six points as the Italian fought from sixteenth to finish sixth following a crash in qualifying. Russell took his first win in Baku since 2016 in GP2, with Leclerc finishing the race almost three and three-quarters of a tenth ahead of the Italian.
Russell speaking after winning the Azerbaijan GP: “It’s amazing to be back on the top step of the podium. I do want to say a big thanks to my team because they’ve continued to believe in me through a tough moment, helped me come through it. I’m really proud to have had this weekend. The first half of the race felt pretty plain sailing, building the gap. Safety car restart, especially when I saw Max behind I thought it’s not going to be easy and he drove incredibly at the end of the race.”
While Antonelli’s fifth is a strong result and one which highlights his strengths and grip on the championship, its not as impressive as his win from nineteenth at his home race at Monza earlier in the month. The Italian managed to split the two Ferrari’s, as he finished the race seven seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Antonelli has a sixty-six-point lead over Russell in the drivers with Hamilton thirty-seven points further behind. Mercedes have a hundred and sixty-point lead over Ferrari.
Both Alpines looked on course to finish best of the rest before the crashed at the first restart, which also took out Lando Norris, who, when speaking to the BBC, called on Franco Colapinto to be banned for the next race. But the Argentine was awarded a ten-second penalty, which has become a five-place grid penalty for Sepang next weekend.
Colapinto, speaking to Sky Sports about if he would speak to Gasly and apologise for taking him out of the race: “Yes of course. Just to all of the team, not only Pierre. It was a big mistake so really, really sorry to everyone in the factory who have been working really hard. Very sad and disappointed. Big, big sorry, big mistake. Big sorry to both of them [Gasly and Norris].”
Gasly said: “It is not easy, we had a very good weekend and the car was one of the best race cars we have had this season. We had 14 or 15 second gap to the midfield. A lot of positives to take away but I am still struggling to process the outcome. We had both cars in the points. Not an ideal day but I am sure we will move on it.
The incident also unravelled Norris ’ teammate Oscar Piastri’s race, from a podium to fourteenth after making the same mistake, starting the second lap after the restart going straight on at Lewis Corner, dropping him to fourteenth.
Arvid Lindblad finished the race eight seconds behind Hamilton and ahead of Esteban Ocon, who was ahead of teammate Ollie Bearman by a quarter of a second, a strong double points finish for Haas. However Lindblad is under investigation for causing a collision with teammate Liam Lawson who was twelfth.
Esteban Ocon was almost three quarters of a tenth faster than his Haas teammate Ollie Bearman, securing Haas a double-points finish for the first time since Las Vegas last November. Carlos Sainz secured his place in the top ten having passed the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg, who he finished just under eight tenths ahead of, in the final two laps.
Sainz taking the final point for Williams as he overcame a five-place grid penalty and losing time from pitting before the first Safety Car, unlike most of the field.
On his return to Racing Bull’s and after a “frustrating” collision with teammate Lindblad, Lawson finished the race almost eight tenths behind the Audi. The New Zealander managed to split the German manufacturer, as he finished two tenths ahead of Gabriel Bortoletto.
Piastri eventful Saturday saw him finished five seconds ahead of Sergio Perez, whose Cadillac teammate Valtteri Bottas crashed with two laps to go It was another tough afternoon for Aston Martin, both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll retiring before hal;f distance.
The other retirements apart from the Alpine – Norris Collision and the two Aston Martins was Alex Albon.
Related
- Azerbaijan GP – Qualifying Result
- AZERBAIJAN GP – George Russell takes dominant eight-tenths pole as Kimi Antonelli crashes out in Q1
- AZERBAIJAN GP – Max Verstappen under a tenth faster than George Russell in third practice
- AZERBAIJAN GP – George Russell half a second faster than Kimi Antonelli in second practice despite reliability woes
- AZERBAIJAN GP – George Russell four tenths faster than Max Verstappen in first practice
- PRIXVIEW – Azerbaijan Grand Prix
