George Russell Holds Off Verstappen by 0.196 Seconds to Win Azerbaijan Grand Prix

A pole-to-win drive under pressure

George Russell won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on Saturday, holding off four-time champion Max Verstappen by just 0.196 seconds in a race that swung on two safety-car restarts. Russell started from pole and built an early lead, but had to defend it twice after the safety car bunched the field back up, while Verstappen carved his way from eighth on the grid to second.

A late crash by Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas forced both leaders to back off before the finish, tightening the margin further. "I lost the boost, I had no power. Thought he was going to get us," Russell said afterward.

A season swinging back his way

It was Russell's first win in three months and his third of the season, and he was candid about what it meant relative to teammate Kimi Antonelli's championship campaign: "My teammate's had an incredible season. He's been pretty flawless throughout, but now we're getting to crunch time." He added, "Every race since the break, I have gone from strength to strength, and I feel more like myself again."

The result cut Antonelli's championship lead from 81 points to 66. The 20-year-old Italian finished fifth despite starting 16th after a qualifying crash, salvaging points on a difficult weekend.

Verstappen still searching for a win

Verstappen's charge to second was one of the drives of the day, but it left him still without a win in 2026, the first time that has been true of him since his rookie season in 2015. Red Bull's Isack Hadjar, returning from a wrist fracture, took third: "I am completely satisfied even if it is a bit numb."

Chaos further back

Reigning champion Lando Norris was taken out of the race after Alpine's Franco Colapinto collided with teammate Pierre Gasly, triggering a chain reaction. Colapinto received a 10-second penalty but did not finish, meaning it may convert into a grid penalty at the next race. Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson spun reacting to the same incident, joking afterward, "I love getting taken out by my teammate, that's pretty sick," while teammate Arvid Lindblad picked his way to seventh. McLaren's Oscar Piastri locked up defending third from Hadjar and dropped from the podium places to finish 14th.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc finished fourth after starting second, with Lewis Hamilton sixth, Esteban Ocon eighth, Oliver Bearman ninth and Carlos Sainz Jr. tenth. F1 next heads to Malaysia for a relocated "Bahrain Grand Prix," filling in after the original Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races were cancelled earlier this season because of the Iran war, with the season finale set for December 6 in the UAE.