George Russell has claimed a nail-biting victory in Baku, holding off Max Verstappen by just 0.196 seconds to secure his third victory of the season.
Russell, who had never led a race from start to finish before in his career, narrowed the gap to his teammate Kimi Antonelli, who recovered from a 16th place start to finish fifth.
The Englishman was successfully holding Verstappen at arms length right up until the final moments of the last lap, when waved yellow flags for a Valtteri Bottas crash through the old town section of the track saw Russell lose power.
That allowed Verstappen to rapidly close the gap, but the Dutch four-times world champion ran out of time and had to settle for second.
George Russell led from start to finish for the first time in F1. (Getty Images: LAT Image/Alastair Staley)
“The first half of the race felt pretty plain sailing,” Russell said.
“After the safety car I saw Max behind me, I knew he wasn’t going to make it easy.
“He drove incredibly at the end of the race.
“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 nearly got me on the line, which would have been a real shame.
“It is amazing to be back on the top step of the podium.”
Earlier, Oscar Piastri let a promising position slip, locking up and spinning onto the run off area during his 40th lap to drop from third to 15th.
BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – SEPTEMBER 26: Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL40 Mercedes locks up heavily under braking during the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on September 26, 2026 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Alex Pantling/LAT Images) (Getty Images: Alex Pantling/LAT Images)
The Australian eventually finished in 14th and cut a dejected figure on what was a disappointing day for McLaren.
“I need to go and look because it certainly took me by surprise,” Piastri said of his lock up.
“I didn’t think I braked super late or super hard, just instantly locked both fronts.
“Just a disappointing end to the day, the first half of the race was very strong, so a shame to not have anything to show from it.”
Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris crashed out of the race on lap 36 when he was knocked out by the pair of Alpine cars, who collided at Turn One on a restart following a second safety car period of the race.
A turgid opening half of the race gave little indication of the drama to come in the second half.
Piastri, starting third, darted up the inside of Charles Leclerc on the opening corner and then led a procession of the two Red Bulls as Russell disappeared into the distance.
Verstappen appeared to be struggling with his medium tyres but did not allow his teammate Isack Hadjar to overtake, despite plenty of discussion taking place via the pit wall.
The action seemed set to continue in a static holding pattern until Alex Albon sent his car into the wall, precipitating the first safety car.
The restart caused chaos, Franco Colapinto locking up as he darted up the inside of Turn One, collecting teammate Pierre Gasly, who in turn knocked Norris out of the race.
Verstappen, who started eighth on the grid, had already overtaken Piastri at that point to move into second, but it was at the second restart that disaster befell the Australian, Piastri locking up his wheels while defending Hadjar and spinning into the run off area.
Look back on how all the action unfolded in our live blog.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix final standings
That’s where we’ll wrap things up
Thanks very much for being with me this evening.
Not the result Australian fans would have hoped for.
But the title race has got just a little bit tighter, with George Russell narrowing the gap a touch to his teammate.
A brilliant drive from Max Verstappen saw him pick up another podium – and a great return to racing for Isack Hadjar, who probably could have made a pass on his teammate earlier in the race.
Thanks for being with me, we’ll see you in Malaysia next week!
Piastri: Lock up ‘took me by surprise’
Here’s Oscar Piastri.
He’s not taking much responsibility for the lock up, that’s for sure.
“I need to go and look because it certainly took me by surprise,” Piastri says.
“I didn’t think I braked super late or super hard, just instantly locked both fronts.
“I need to look at that.
“Just a disappointing end to the day, the first half of the race was very strong so a shame to not have anything to show from it.”
He is asked about his battle with Max Verstappen through the start of the race, saying that his lack of straight speed was frustrating.
“It was kinda frustrating, because you felt like you’d do a good lap but then you’d see it all be eaten away down the straight<” he said.
“It was kind of a shame that George was so quick, because I didn’t have a slipstream down the straights.”
‘Some drivers that shouldn’t be in Formula 1, to be honest’
Lando Norris has been pretty brutal about the crash that’s taken him out.
He says that he was “just slow” during the race and had no straight line speed.
He also put his hand up about the mistake that put him into the midfield.
But he was not happy with Franco Colapinto…
“I still made the mistake, and in the end of the day, I just got taken out, some drivers that shouldn’t be in Formula 1, to be honest,” he says.
Yikes.
Closest Grand Prix finish since 2002
The final gap between first and second was 0.196 seconds.
The next closest Grand Prix finish was all the way back in 2002, when Rubens Barrichello beat Michael Schumacher at the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis by 0.011 in something of a staged finish.
That wasn’t the tightest finish in F1 history.
In 1971 at the Italian Grand Prix, Peter Gethin beat Ronnie Peterson by 0.01 seconds.
10 second penalty for Colapinto
Franco Colapinto has been given a 10 second time penalty for causing the crash that took out his teammate and Lando Norris at the first safety car restart.
Colapinto didn’t finish the race.
That might end up being a grid penalty in qualifying at the next Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Penny for Piastri’s thoughts?
Actually, I’m not sure I want to know…
Gutting for the Australian.
It was here at Azerbaijan that his title push fell apart last season.
I don’t think he’s been in with a chance of the title this year, but he was certainly fighting for a podium.
Double podium for Red Bull
First time since the Chinese Grand Prix in 2024 that we’ve had a double Red Bull podium.
Russell has to ‘win every race’ to win title
What does George Russell need to do to stay in touch with Kimi Antonelli in the championship race?
“[I need to] Win every race,” he says.
“That’s the game plan.
“My teammate has had an incredible season, he’s been pretty flawless, but now it’s crunch time.
“I’m just going to focus on myself.
“It’s been a real tough period for me, but I feel like it’s come good.”
Hadjar ‘completely satisfied’
Isack Hadjar is very happy to be back in the car after his injury lay off.
Remember, he’s missed the last three races with a fracture in his wrist.
“It’s been a very long six weeks,” he says.
“I felt it was the right time to come back, I felt strong.
“It was a track that you can end up in the wall very quickly.
“I am very happy that I have got my first proper podium on pure pace.
“I am completely satisfied.”
‘I got close, but it was not enough’: Verstappen
Max Verstappen looks pretty happy.
“We had a good race, the first stint was a little bit difficult with the medium tyre, but we still got to P3,” he says.
“Then after the restart, into P2.
“Then it was just one second, 1.2…
“I got close, but it was not enough.”
‘I had no power’: Russell
Here’s George Russell, explaining how it got so tight at the finish.
“It is amazing to be back on the top step of the podium,” he says.
“The first half of the race felt pretty plain sailing.
“After the safety car and I saw Max behind me, I knew he wasn’t going to make it easy.
“He drove incredibly at the end of the race.
“Then, 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, and Max nearly got me on the line, which would have been a real shame.”
Final standings of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Here’s the final standings:
- George Russell
- Max Verstappen
- Isack Hadjar
- Charles Leclerc
- Kimi Antonelli
- Lewis Hamilton
- Arvid Lindblad
- Esteban Ocon
- Ollie Bearman
- Carlos Sainz
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Liam Lawson
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Oscar Piastri
- Sergio Perez
George Russell wins by 0.1 seconds!
What a thrilling final half-lap!
George Russell held his nerve, the crash of Bothas almost tripping him up at the last, only for the Briton to hold on.
“I lost the boost under the double yellows, I had no power,” Russell says!
Remarkable.
Isack Hadjar has come home in second.
Impressive.
Final Lap: Bothas into the wall
The pair go past at a slower pace as Bothas hits the wall through the old city section.
But Verstappen has closed right up!
Final lap: Russell has the lead
Lap 50: Russell leads Verstappen by a second
It’s a gap that’s holding and has held over the last couple of laps.
Russell has driven a masterful race, flawless, with just two laps to go.
Lap 49: Verstappen is cleared
No further investigation for Max Verstappen for almost overtaking George Russell under the safety car.
Lap 49: Verstappen sets the fastest lap of the race
The Red Bull is roaring now.
But Russell pulled out a tenth of a second the lap before when he set the fastest lap of the race.
That was crucial.
Lap 47: Verstappen close, but no cigar so far
Verstappen and Russell are trading blows – they lead Hadjar by over six seconds and are slamming out fastest lap after fastest lap together.
“Check my right hand side tyres,” Verstappen says after he glanced the wall on the way into Turn 16.
“No concerns,” is the response from the pit wall.
dan