Russell wins lights-to-flag in Baku as Verstappen charges and McLaren suffers double disaster

BAKU – George Russell won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from lights to flag, finishing ahead of a charging Max Verstappen on a Saturday of misery for McLaren.

Russell clinched the win by 0.1 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, while Isack Hadjar brought his RB22 home in third place to record Red Bull’s first double podium since 2024.

George Russell wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix as McLaren falters

The big question ahead of Saturday’s 51-lap Azerbaijan Grand Prix was whether anyone could stop George Russell from winning.

The Briton lined up on pole position and stormed into the lead, ahead of Oscar Piastri, who got the jump on Charles Leclerc, who was then under pressure from Lando Norris. Isack Hadjar was up to fifth ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The Alpine teammates dropped to eighth and ninth with Liam Lawson up to 10th.

All the drivers came through the opening lap without any drama, although championship leader Kimi Antonelli did lose a position to fall to 17th.

Russell was 1.2s ahead of Piastri after the opening lap.

Hadjar passed Norris down the main straight, with his teammate following him through, having already overtaken Hamilton. Hadjar slipstreamed his way past Leclerc into Turn 3, and Verstappen was again quickly onto his teammate’s rear wing.

Piastri, Red Bull’s next target, was warned by his race engineer Tom Stallard: “These Red Bulls can be a problem. We want to try and keep them out of range.”

And all the while Russell extended his advantage at the front, which was up to three seconds after six laps.

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Verstappen passed his teammate on Lap 7, with Hadjar told, “Remember, race time is priority for you”. The teammates were less than a second behind Piastri, who was starting to struggle on his soft tyres. Verstappen, meanwhile, complained that his medium tyres weren’t “very good”.

Lance Stroll’s race ended on Lap 9 when the Aston Martin driver was told: “Stop the car, we have an issue.” His teammate Fernando Alonso was overtaken by Sergio Perez down the straight. He ruefully chuckled: “Seven-tenths in a straight.”

While Russell continued to build his lead at the front, Antonelli was struggling to break into the top ten. He was stuck behind Oliver Bearman, with the Haas driver holding his own against the championship leader. He eventually passed on Lap 17.

Norris had a moment at Turn 6, and while Hamilton couldn’t pounce at the time, he was ahead of the McLaren a few corners later.

Hadjar, meanwhile, was asked if he would be faster with free air, and although he replied “three-tenths”, he said he was “happy to stay here honestly, otherwise we’re just going to both lose time”.

A short while later, though, on Verstappen’s rear wing, Hadjar told Red Bull to tell Verstappen “to keep pushing”, adding “I have pace, just in case”.

Alonso joined Stroll in retirement, pulling into the pits on Lap 22 to park his Aston Martin AMR26.

Having built up a 10s lead, Russell had a moment with the Turn 15 wall. “Just check the tyres. I nibbled the wall on the right hand side. Feels okay.” He was told it was.

Hadjar challenged Verstappen on Lap 27 into Turn 1, but the Dutchman defended. “Can I go for it or what?” he asked Red Bull. “Just keep it clean,” was the response. As Verstappen again complained about his tyres, GianPiero Lambiase told him “track position”.

A massive lock-up at the end of the straight into Turn 1 cost Norris positions as he spun around in the run-off while Pierre Gasly and Antonelli passed him.

Safety Car! Alex Albon binned his W48 at Turn 5, the Williams driver nose-first into the barrier.

Gasly and Antonelli pitted, as did Norris, Franco Colapinto and Bearman. The second time around, Russell and Piastri pitted as did Verstappen, Hadjar, Leclerc and Hamilton. Nico Hülkenberg was the only driver who did not pit – and then he did.

The racing resumed on Lap 36, with Russell pulling clear of the field as Verstappen leapt ahead of Piastri with Hadjar fourth ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton.

Safety Car! The two Alpines came together, Colapinto locking up and hitting Gasly, with the two crashing into Norris. Lawson also went spinning after he was hit by Arvid Lindblad. “Man, I love being taken out by my teammate. That’s pretty sick,” was Lawson’s sarcastic message. He was able to continue, but he was down in 15th place with only Valtteri Bottas behind him.

The racing resumed on Lap 39, and again Russell pulled clear of the chasing pack. Verstappen remained second ahead of Piastri, Hadjar and the Ferrari drivers. Antonelli was up to seventh and all over the back of Hamilton’s rear wing. Piastri got it horribly wrong the next lap as he tried to defend against Hadjar and locked up into Turn 1. He dropped to 15th place.

Antonelli passed Hamilton for fifth place, with the championship leader only four seconds behind the podium with eight laps remaining. His teammate Russell was under pressure from Verstappen with the Red Bull driver, the gap fluctuating between a few tenths and a second. Verstappen, though, was noted for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions. Stewards ruled no further investigation.

Further back Esteban Ocon was leading a train in the fight for seventh place, the Frenchman, Bearman, Lindblad and Hülkenberg separated by 1.5 seconds. Lindblad overtook Bearman for eighth, while Carlos Sainz passed Hulkenberg to run P10. Bottas’ race ended at Turn 15 with the Cadillac nose-first in the barrier.

Russell held on against a charging Verstappen to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by 0.1 seconds. Hadjar was third in Red Bull’s first double podium since 2024.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Top Ten

1 George Russell Mercedes winner
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.1
3 Isack Hadjar Red Bull +10.7
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +14.1
5 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +14.5
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +22.3
7 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls +31.1
8 Esteban Ocon Haas +31.1
9 Oliver Bearman Haas +31.9
10 Carlos Sainz Williams +32.4

The full Azerbaijan Grand Prix results

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