George Russell converted his pole position into a victory for Mercedes at the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, narrowly holding off Max Verstappen by just 0.196 seconds in a thriller at the Baku City Circuit. George led comfortably from the start, controlling the opening stint while Oscar Piastri and the Red Bulls battled behind.

Alex Albon crashed his Williams on Lap 29, triggering the first Safety Car and neutralising George's comfortable lead. Shortly after the restart, Franco Colapinto locked up into Turn 1, triggering a multi-car collision that eliminated himself, Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly and McLaren's Lando Norris.

Starting from 8th on the grid, Max Verstappen picked his way through the field and mounted a relentless attack on George Russell following the final restart, even lightly brushing the wall while chasing down the Mercedes. A late crash by Valtteri Bottas at Turn 15 brought out yellow flags on the final lap, helping Russell hold off Verstappen over the finish line.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli staged a massive charge from 16th on the grid to finish 5th for Mercedes. In the closing laps, he held off Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton to cross the line in 5th place, securing 10 crucial points. The performance allowed Antonelli to maintain his lead in the Drivers' Championship standings.

Isack Hadjar made his return to the Red Bull seat in Baku after missing time due to injury. Starting 4th on the grid, he drove a clean race to secure 3rd place, rounding out a double podium for Red Bull alongside Max Verstappen and scoring his best finish in F1 to date. Starting from 2nd on the grid, Charles Leclerc finished 4th. He managed to cleanly avoid the major Turn 1 crash after Safety Car 1 that eliminated Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly, and Franco Colapinto, allowing him to stay inside the top 5.

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.