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

BAKU, Azerbaijan. George Russell won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday, holding off a late charge from Max Verstappen to cross the line 0.196 seconds ahead at the Baku City Circuit. It was the Mercedes driver's third win of the season and his first since Round 8 in Austria. Isack Hadjar finished third to give Red Bull Racing a double podium.

Russell took pole by 0.837 seconds over Charles Leclerc, the biggest margin of the year. Teammate Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader, crashed in Q1 and started 16th.

"It's amazing to be back on the top step of the podium," Russell said. "I just want to say a big thanks to my team, because they continued to believe in me through tough moments, helped me come through it. When the yellow flag came out, I lifted off the power, and when I went back, I had no turbo, so then I had no power. Max almost got me at the line, so that would have been a real shame."

Russell controls, Red Bull charges

Russell made a strong launch and built a five-second lead while Oscar Piastri of McLaren moved up to second and tried to hold off the Red Bulls. Hadjar passed Lando Norris and then Leclerc, and Verstappen followed, setting the fastest lap and then passing Hadjar on the main straight on a team instruction to chase Piastri.

An error from Alex Albon of Williams brought out the Safety Car, and Russell held on at the restart. The race was neutralized again when Franco Colapinto locked up and took out his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly and Norris. Verstappen closed in over the final laps but came up less than two tenths short of what would have been his first win of the season.

Antonelli recovers, Piastri slides

Leclerc finished fourth and Antonelli fifth, recovering from 16th through the chaos. He later called it the worst weekend of his season. Lewis Hamilton was a lonely sixth, ahead of Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls, who beat Esteban Ocon to seventh at the line. Ollie Bearman and Carlos Sainz completed the top 10, and Haas scored for the first time since Monaco.

Piastri ran in the podium places for most of the race, but a lock-up dropped him to 14th. Nico Hulkenberg was 11th for Audi after losing a place to Sainz with two laps left, and Liam Lawson was 12th after contact with his teammate.

Albon, Colapinto, Gasly and Norris retired, as did both Aston Martins with mechanical problems. Valtteri Bottas crashed late and was the final driver out for Cadillac.

The win cut into Antonelli's lead, but the title fight swung back a week later when Russell retired late in Malaysia.

For more, see Formula 1's race report (opens in a new tab).

This was Round 15 of the 2026 season. It came after Antonelli's win at the Madring and before Max Verstappen's win at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. For the full title picture, see our 2026 F1 standings breakdown.

Sources: Formula 1. More Formula 1 coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Sebastian Kawka / Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team