Mercedes driver George Russell held off Max Verstappen by just 0.1 seconds at the line to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, claiming his third victory of the season. The chaotic race around the Baku street circuit saw six drivers crash out and the safety car deployed twice. "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," the Briton explained after the dramatic finish. "Max almost got me at the line, so that would have been a real shame."
On lap 36 of an incident-packed race, Franco Colapinto locked up into Turn 1 and took out both his teammate Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull's French rookie, pounced on the chaos to climb into third and celebrate the first podium of his career. Kimi Antonelli, who started 16th after crashing in qualifying, crossed the line in fifth. Next up on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar is Malaysia, where the Sepang International Circuit hosts the following round from 2 to 4 October.
