George Russell won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on 26 September, holding off Max Verstappen by 0.196 seconds after a late yellow flag and power loss turned a controlled Mercedes victory into a tense finish.
Russell started from pole and led every lap, also setting the fastest lap to complete his first Formula 1 grand slam. It was his third win of the 2026 season and his first since June, according to Formula 1’s official race report.
The British driver had built a lead of more than 10 seconds before Alex Albon’s crash brought out a Safety Car on lap 31. Russell handled the restart to remain ahead, but Verstappen passed Oscar Piastri for second and stayed within roughly a second through the final stint.
Formula 1 reported that Russell and Verstappen pulled away from the rest of the field in that closing phase, while the lead changed little from lap to lap. Russell said the final 10 laps required him to avoid any mistake as both drivers pushed hard around the street circuit. Verstappen, who had started on the medium tyre, said the later soft-tyre stint allowed him to attack through to the finish.
A second late twist came when Valtteri Bottas’s stopped car prompted a yellow flag at Turn 15 on the final lap. Russell said he had lifted for the flag but then had no turbo power when he accelerated again, allowing Verstappen to close dramatically on the run to the line.
Verstappen said the final margin overstated how evenly matched the pair had been over the closing stint, attributing his late gain to Russell’s loss of boost. The Red Bull driver, who had started eighth, nevertheless finished just short of what would have been his first win of the season.
Russell’s win narrows Mercedes title gap
The result reduced the points gap between championship leader Kimi Antonelli and Russell from 81 to 66. Antonelli recovered from 16th on the grid to finish fifth after crashing in qualifying.
Russell said his immediate objective was to win every remaining race rather than focus on the sizeable deficit. He described the weekend as his most dominant in Formula 1 and said he had regained confidence following a difficult period adapting his driving style to Mercedes’ car.
Antonelli characterised Baku as his weakest performance weekend of the season and said his race had been about limiting the damage after the qualifying error affected his confidence. His fifth place ensured that he retained a substantial lead, even as Russell’s victory gave the intra-team contest a different complexion.
The significance of the result is therefore measured rather than decisive. Russell has taken 15 points out of Antonelli’s advantage in one race, but Antonelli’s recovery from deep on the grid meant Mercedes’ championship leader still left Baku with a 66-point cushion.
Red Bull take two podium places
Isack Hadjar completed the podium in third on his return after six weeks out with a wrist injury. Formula 1 said the result gave Red Bull its best weekend of the season so far, with Verstappen second and Hadjar third.
Hadjar had qualified fourth and, after letting Verstappen through in the early stages, later moved ahead of Piastri when the McLaren driver made an error at Turn 1. The French driver said he had approached the weekend cautiously because Baku was a demanding place to return, but felt his gradual build-up had delivered a clean performance.
Safety Car restarts also altered the race behind the leaders. Franco Colapinto locked up at Turn 1 and collided with Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly, with Lando Norris caught up in the aftermath. Formula 1 reported that all three drivers retired. Piastri later went wide at the same corner after another restart and eventually finished 14th, while Antonelli benefited from the disorder to reach fifth.
For Russell, the finish offered both relief and evidence of a stronger weekend. He had enough in hand to withstand Verstappen’s final charge, but only after a late technical problem ensured the Baku victory was decided at the line rather than by the earlier gap he had established.