Land of Fire: Russell’s Perfect Weekend and Chaos Behind Him at Baku
If qualifying was George Russell’s personal masterclass, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was the slightly more stressful sequel.
The Mercedes driver started from pole after beating Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) by a ridiculous 0.837 seconds, but the race proved rather less straightforward. Max Verstappen came back into contention after Red Bull made significant changes to his car, two Safety Cars shook up the order, several drivers discovered that Baku’s walls were still very much there, and a late turbo problem almost transformed Russell’s perfect weekend into a very unnecessary heartbreak.
Russell held on by just 0.196 seconds and, despite all of that, still left Baku with a grand slam: pole position, race victory, fastest lap, and every single lap led. Not bad.
A strategic split from the start
The tyre choices immediately suggested two different approaches.
Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), Oliver Bearman (Haas), Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), Alexander Albon (Williams), Esteban Ocon (Haas), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) started on softs.
George Russell, Lando Norris (McLaren), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Max Verstappen, Franco Colapinto (Alpine), Carlos Sainz (Williams), Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi), Nico Hülkenberg (Audi), Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac), and Sergio Pérez (Cadillac) opted for mediums.
For Lando, there was another problem to worry about. McLaren had not managed to solve the straight-line issue that had affected him in qualifying, leaving him vulnerable whenever the cars reached Baku’s enormous main straight.
The wind was also noticeably calmer than it had been the day before, although that did not make the circuit any less unforgiving.
A rather busy opening lap
Oscar Piastri immediately passed Charles Leclerc for second, while Lando Norris got ahead of Isack Hadjar for fourth. Max Verstappen made his way past Pierre Gasly and then Lewis Hamilton to move into sixth. Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, lost positions after starting 16th and 14th respectively.
The order was already changing again by Lap 2. Hadjar used the straight to pass Norris back and then overtook Leclerc, while Max followed through shortly afterwards.
At the front, Russell remained untouched in P1, with Piastri second. McLaren were already concerned about the Red Bulls, asking Oscar to keep them out of range. It was easier said than done.
Max and Isack versus Oscar
Red Bull had made significant changes to Verstappen’s car after his disappointing eighth-place qualifying, and the difference was immediately visible. By Lap 5, Max was pushing the fastest laps. He then got past Hadjar for third, with Isack allowing his teammate through. “Let’s handle them together now,” Max said on the radio. Isack, however, was hardly planning to disappear quietly.
When asked how much faster he could go in clean air, Hadjar estimated two or three tenths. “But I’m happy to stay here honestly. Otherwise we’re just going to lose time.” It was becoming an entertaining little Red Bull civil war.
When Verstappen began struggling on his mediums, Hadjar asked whether Max was in trouble. “Tell him to keep pushing. Is he struggling now or what?” “Yeah, he is going through a bad phase of these tyres,” his race engineer replied. “OK, but I have pace. Just in case,” Isack hinted at a position swap by team order.
The Red Bull pair were eventually allowed to race each other, and Hadjar tried to pass Verstappen, who came within nine centimetres of the wall, but could not make it stick. Bottas, now a backmarker, found himself involved in the battle. Isack’s return to racing after six weeks away with a wrist injury was already looking rather impressive, and the Frenchman was not simply hanging on. His tyres were still good enough for him to ask, “So no team orders?” Apparently not.
The tyre gamble
Verstappen was increasingly unhappy with his mediums. “These tyres are not good,” he complained, before pointing out that the softs appeared capable of lasting half the race. His engineer, however, urged him to be patient and prioritise track position.
Piastri was also beginning to struggle with his rear tyres, while Russell continued to build a comfortable advantage at the front. By the middle of the first stint, the Mercedes driver was seven seconds clear. Then George reported that the wind had become “very gusty”.
Soon after came another close call when Russell reported that he had “nibbled the wall” on the right-hand side. The team checked his tyre pressure, which did not “quite look right”. Baku had not finished trying to ruin his day.
Meanwhile, down the grid…
The midfield was producing its own mini-race.
Oliver Bearman passed Liam Lawson for tenth, while Kimi Antonelli continued his recovery from P17. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, got ahead of Lando Norris, whose straight-line disadvantage was becoming increasingly painful. At the back, Sergio Pérez had built a 30-second advantage over Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso, who were having their own rather entertaining fight. Fernando passed Valtteri, Valtteri passed Fernando back, Fernando passed Valtteri again. Eventually Alonso pitted, but his race would end with a retirement.
Lance Stroll was already out with a technical problem after being told over the radio to stop the car. And Carlos Sainz became the first to pit for soft tyres, with Williams getting him back out in 2.5 seconds. The team’s upgrades were beginning to look rather useful.
The calm before the chaos
At Lap 26, Russell was still leading, had set the fastest lap in 1:47.109, and had led every lap so far. Antonelli, meanwhile, had already recorded the most overtakes of anyone with seven. And somewhere in all this, Oliver Bearman had reached 350 km/h. Baku does occasionally remember that it is supposed to be a race rather than a demolition derby.
Hadjar was still running strongly, and Red Bull’s two-car strategy was becoming increasingly interesting. “If Max can’t get the win, I’m going to need his help with Piastri,” Isack told his engineer. Of then which another concern appeared: Red Bull detected a gearbox vibration. Hadjar could feel it going into Turn 2, but for the moment the car held together.
Lewis Hamilton was having rather more trouble with his. “Yeah, I’ve got no front, mate. So, I can’t turn the car. Struggling.”
Max, meanwhile, had his eyes on the leader. The race was about to change completely.
And then Baku did Baku things
Lando Norris locked up and ran wide, losing two positions, before Alex Albon hit the wall and brought out the Safety Car. The leaders pitted, with Piastri stopping in 2.5 seconds and Verstappen in 2.6. Russell retained the lead.
Then came the restart. Verstappen immediately passed Piastri. Oscar later made a similar mistake to Lando’s at the same corner later and lost the positions he had been fighting to protect. It was not a particularly happy afternoon for McLaren.
But the real chaos was still to come. Franco Colapinto locked up, lost control, and hit his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly. Pierre was then sent into Lando. Three cars, one corner – DNF bowling, basically. Colapinto immediately apologised. “Sorry, sorry to all the team and Pierre. Really sorry for that.” Gasly was furious, and both he and Norris were forced to retire.
And then Arvid Lindblad got involved too, hitting Liam Lawson. Lawson stayed in the race but lost positions. His reaction was wonderfully understated: “Man, I love getting taken out by my teammate. That’s pretty sick.” Lindblad was not penalised for the contact and later spoke to Lawson to apologise.
Norris has had enough
Norris was clearly unimpressed after being taken out. In the media pen, he said he had not yet seen the incident but argued that drivers responsible for crashes like this should receive a one-race ban. “I think the FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff,” Lando said. “It’s just careless from people.” He also pointed out that such incidents come at a significant cost to the teams, with his car left in pieces.
That was bound to generate some internet discussion. Norris’ comments even prompted an intervention from Argentina’s Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno, who pointed out on X that Lando himself had crashed into Oscar Piastri at the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix. The post was, to put it mildly, not exactly subtle. Still, politicians defending F1 drivers from their country is hardly unprecedented: late last year, Australian Senator Matt Canavan unexpectedly brought Piastri up during a parliamentary hearing, questioning transport officials over whether McLaren was discriminating against him after leaving him out during the Safety Car at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Colapinto did not try to escape responsibility, though. “It was just a big mistake,” he admitted after the race, explaining that he had locked up completely on cold tyres and brakes. He apologised to Gasly, Norris, and both teams, saying that taking out his own teammate was particularly disappointing. He also expected a penalty – and got one: 10 seconds for the contact, converted into a five-place grid drop for the next race after his retirement.
Max is suddenly back in the fight
The Safety Car had completely reset the race. Verstappen was now right behind Russell, and Red Bull had transformed what looked like a comfortable Mercedes victory into an actual fight.
The second restart was clean, with the leading positions unchanged. Hadjar was still in the mix, while Russell continued to manage the gap. Verstappen also came almost wheel-to-wheel with Russell as the Safety Car period ended. He was subsequently investigated for allegedly not complying with the race director’s notes, but the matter went no further. He did, however, kiss the wall.
Kimi’s comeback
Antonelli’s race was almost the complete opposite of his Friday. After a grave mistake in Q1 and starting from P16, the Mercedes driver spent the race steadily working his way through the grid. He picked off Sainz and Lindblad early on, then made his way past Ocon, Albon, and Lawson as the strategy began to open up the midfield. By the time the race settled after the second Safety Car, Kimi was running sixth and had Hamilton ahead of him.
The Ferrari did not stay there for long. Antonelli passed Hamilton to take fifth, completing one of the biggest comebacks of the afternoon. He had started P16 and finished P5 – eleven positions gained after clipping the wall the day before. Quite an effective way to limit the damage.
More chaos at the back
Carlos Sainz got ahead of Hülkenberg, moving into tenth and securing a point for Williams after the team’s upgrades.
Gabriel Bortoleto was later summoned to the stewards. On the first lap after the first Safety Car restart, Bortoleto overtook Sergio Pérez on the straight between Turns 6 and 7. The problem? Yellow flags were being shown, alongside a “Safety Car” board.
The slightly odd part was that the Safety Car itself was not actually on track. Bortoleto told the stewards that he had understood the yellow flags as part of the Safety Car procedure. With no Safety Car indication appearing on his steering wheel, he believed the restriction was no longer in effect and made the pass on Pérez.
The stewards agreed that the specific rule prohibiting overtaking while the Safety Car is physically on track did not apply here. However, the yellow flags were still being displayed, meaning Bortoleto had technically overtaken under yellow flags. The explanation therefore did not save him from a penalty: he was handed 10 seconds, dropping from 13th on the road to 15th in the final classification.
Valtteri Bottas found the wall on Lap 51. And that incident would have one final, rather important consequence.
0.196 seconds
Russell lifted when the yellow flag came out for Bottas. When he got back on the power, the turbo did not. “When I went back, I had no turbo, so then I had no power,” he later explained.
Suddenly, Verstappen had a chance – a very real one. The Red Bull driver had fought his way back from eighth on the grid, made major changes to his car overnight, and was now less than two-tenths away from his first Formula One victory of the season.
He nearly got it. Russell crossed the line first, with Verstappen just 0.196 seconds behind – the closest winning margin in Formula One since 2002. Hadjar completed a Red Bull double podium in third, 10.704 seconds behind the winner. Leclerc finished fourth, while Antonelli completed his spectacular comeback in fifth.
Hamilton was sixth, followed by Lindblad, Ocon, Bearman, and Sainz. For Haas, Bearman’s ninth place meant a double-points finish alongside Ocon’s eighth. There was also a lovely little moment on Bearman’s radio: his racing engineer’s daughter had a birthday, and Ollie took the opportunity to congratulate her over the radio.
Russell’s perfect weekend
Russell had started on pole, won the race, set the fastest lap, and led every single lap. His third victory of the 2026 season was therefore also the first grand slam of his Formula One career.
Russell credited Mercedes for continuing to believe in him through a difficult period. “Every race since the [summer] break I feel like I’ve gone from strength to strength. I feel more like myself again, so that’s really great.”
He admitted that seeing Verstappen behind him had changed the mood completely: “When I saw Max behind, I thought, ‘It’s not going to be easy’. He drove incredibly at the end of the race.” With the turbo drama and Max having almost got him at the line, it would have been a rather painful way to lose a race he had controlled from start to finish. Instead, Russell held on.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was not physically at the circuit for the celebrations, joining the team on the phone from Italy while attending his son’s karting race. George Russell, however, was very much there. After qualifying with an eight-tenth advantage, surviving two Safety Cars, holding off Verstappen by less than two-tenths, and completing his first career grand slam, he celebrated in parc fermé with his signature T-pose.
Race results
George Russell (Mercedes) – 1:38:02.143
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – +0.196s
Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) – +10.704s
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – +14.136s
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – +14.512s
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – +22.382s
Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) – +31.159s
Esteban Ocon (Haas) – +31.189s
Oliver Bearman (Haas) – +31.929s
Carlos Sainz (Williams) – +32.416s
Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) – +33.231s
Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – +34.013s
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – +36.401s
Sergio Pérez (Cadillac) – +41.400s
Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) – +34.230s (+10s penalty)
Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) – +2 laps
DNF: Franco Colapinto (Alpine), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Lando Norris (McLaren), Alexander Albon (Williams), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
What it means for the championship
The victory moves Russell to 236 points, although Kimi Antonelli remains the championship leader on 302. Lewis Hamilton sits third on 199, followed by Lando Norris on 186 and Charles Leclerc on 179. Verstappen moves to 163, while Piastri remains on 120 after his disappointing 14th-place finish. Mercedes extend their lead in the Constructors’ Championship to 538 points, with Ferrari on 378, McLaren on 306, and Red Bull on 263.
Red Bull leave Baku with plenty to be encouraged by: Verstappen came within 0.196 seconds of victory after starting eighth, while Hadjar returned from his wrist injury with a podium on his first weekend back. Antonelli turned a P16 start into fifth, Sainz finally put Williams’ upgrades on the scoreboard, and Haas brought both cars home in the points.
Russell, meanwhile, got everything he could have asked for. Pole, victory, fastest lap, every lap led – and a grand slam to complete the set. Baku just made sure he had to work for it.