The starting position had clearly favoured Russell. In qualifying, he had beaten Charles Leclerc by 0.837 seconds to take a commanding pole position. Leclerc lined up alongside him, with Oscar Piastri and Hadjar on the second row. Lando Norris started fifth, Lewis Hamilton sixth and Verstappen only eighth. Antonelli began much further back after his crash in the opening part of qualifying.
Russell pulls clear at the front
Russell made a clean start and retained the lead. Piastri passed Leclerc to move into second, while the order behind them immediately began to change. Verstappen first made his way past Gasly and Hamilton before continuing his charge through the field. Hadjar also showed early on that Red Bull had much stronger race pace than Verstappen’s eighth-place grid position might have suggested.
At the front, Russell quickly began to open a gap. His advantage was already several seconds after only a few laps, and by the middle of the race Piastri was almost ten seconds behind. The Mercedes worked particularly well across the very different demands of the Baku City Circuit.
That contrast is precisely what makes the circuit so difficult. In the old city section, the barriers run extremely close to the racing line, while the long flat-out section towards Turn 1 rewards low drag. Mistakes are rarely forgiven, but the cars still need enough stability for the many heavy braking zones.
Verstappen continued his progress and eventually climbed to third. Antonelli’s recovery was initially much slower. The Italian even lost a position at the start and dropped to 17th before gradually working his way back through the midfield.
Technical problems end Aston Martin’s race early
The first retirements were caused by mechanical issues rather than accidents. Lance Stroll had to park his Aston Martin after only a few laps because of a water-pressure problem. Fernando Alonso later followed with another technical failure, meaning the team’s race was effectively over before half-distance.
Russell, meanwhile, remained out of reach. After around 25 laps, he led by almost ten seconds, although he lightly brushed the wall at Turn 15 and subsequently questioned the condition of one of his tyres. The contact initially had no consequences.
Behind him, the fight for the podium began to develop. Verstappen passed Hadjar and closed in on Piastri as the McLaren driver increasingly complained about fading rear tyres. Norris lost further ground after locking up, while Antonelli took advantage and moved back towards the points.
Albon’s crash wipes out Russell’s advantage
After 29 laps, the race changed completely. Alexander Albon locked up at Turn 6 and hit the barriers with his Williams, bringing out the Safety Car.
Russell’s comfortable lead disappeared immediately. The front-runners also used the opportunity to make their pit stops. Red Bull brought Verstappen and Hadjar in back-to-back and managed to keep both drivers in contention without any major delay.
Russell narrowly retained the lead at the restart, but Verstappen finally got past Piastri behind him and moved into second place. What had previously been a controlled race for Russell suddenly became a direct fight with the four-time world champion.
Three-car collision triggers another Safety Car
At the braking zone for Turn 1, Franco Colapinto misjudged his approach. The Alpine driver hit team-mate Pierre Gasly, who was then pushed into Norris. All three cars were forced to retire.
A second Safety Car followed almost immediately after the first. There was further contact involving the two Racing Bulls, as Arvid Lindblad clipped Liam Lawson’s rear wheel, although both were able to continue.
The incident once again underlined why Baku is not necessarily an easy circuit for overtaking despite its long straights. The high speeds into Turn 1 encourage late moves, but anyone who misses the braking point by even a small margin has very little room to recover. Seven drivers were ultimately classified as retirements.
Piastri’s mistake opens the door for Antonelli
After the second restart, Russell had the race under better control, although Verstappen remained close enough to keep the Mercedes under pressure.
Piastri’s hopes of a podium ended a few laps later. The Australian locked up heavily before Turn 1, had to spin the car around and dropped as low as 15th. Despite having driven strongly until that point, he eventually finished only 14th.
Antonelli was one of the main beneficiaries of the chaotic phase. He had already climbed to sixth and began closing on Hamilton. With eight laps remaining, the championship leader passed the Ferrari on the long straight and moved into fifth. He could not progress any further: Leclerc was only just ahead, but Hadjar had already built a larger margin further up the road.
The Frenchman drove a largely error-free comeback race after his wrist injury and secured another Red Bull podium alongside Verstappen’s second place.
Verstappen finishes less than a car length behind
Russell could no longer shake off his pursuer in the closing laps. Verstappen stayed within a second for several laps and waited for the Mercedes driver to make a mistake.
The final lap brought one more moment of tension. Valtteri Bottas crashed at Turn 15 and triggered yellow flags. Russell lifted off and later explained that, when he accelerated again, he briefly lacked full power.
Verstappen closed rapidly along the long run to the finish and almost drew alongside the Mercedes. Russell held on by just 0.196 seconds. After 51 laps, his winning time was 1:38:02.143.
Russell later explained that the first half of the race had felt relatively controlled. After the two Safety Car periods, with Verstappen directly behind him, the task became considerably more difficult. The loss of performance following the final yellow flags then unexpectedly put the victory at risk once more.
Antonelli limits the damage in the championship
For Russell, it was his third victory of the season and an important result in the title fight. Antonelli, however, prevented his team-mate from making even bigger gains by recovering to fifth.
The Italian still leads the World Championship with 302 points, while Russell is now on 236. The gap has therefore been reduced from 81 to 66 points. Hamilton sits third on 199, Norris remains on 186 after his retirement, Leclerc moves to 179 and Verstappen reaches 163 after finishing second.
Baku therefore showed two very different sides of Mercedes’ weekend. Russell was the fastest driver throughout and converted pole position into victory. Antonelli, by contrast, had to limit the damage after his qualifying mistake – and did so successfully by gaining eleven positions.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix result
P1 – George Russell – Mercedes – 1:38:02.143
P2 – Max Verstappen – Red Bull – +0.196 sec
P3 – Isack Hadjar – Red Bull – +10.704 sec
P4 – Charles Leclerc – Ferrari – +14.136 sec
P5 – Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes – +14.512 sec
P6 – Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari – +22.382 sec
P7 – Arvid Lindblad – Racing Bulls – +31.159 sec
P8 – Esteban Ocon – Haas – +31.189 sec
P9 – Oliver Bearman – Haas – +31.929 sec
P10 – Carlos Sainz – Williams – +32.416 sec
P11 – Nico Hülkenberg – Audi – +33.231 sec
P12 – Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls – +34.013 sec
P13 – Gabriel Bortoleto – Audi – +34.230 sec
P14 – Oscar Piastri – McLaren – +36.401 sec
P15 – Sergio Perez – Cadillac – +41.400 sec
P16 – Valtteri Bottas – Cadillac – DNF
P17 – Franco Colapinto – Alpine – DNF
P18 – Pierre Gasly – Alpine – DNF
P19 – Lando Norris – McLaren – DNF
P20 – Alexander Albon – Williams – DNF
P21 – Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin – DNF
P22 – Lance Stroll – Aston Martin – DNF
