Russell wins by one tenth of a second to Verstappen in chaotic Azerbaijan GP
George Russell won a chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen by just one tenth of a second in the closest finish in over two decades, as Isack Hadjar finishes third.
Russell completed a career first grand slam after taking a mighty pole position on Friday and leading the full Grand Prix with the fastest lap on Saturday, to reduce his deficit in the championship to teammate Kimi Antonelli to 66 points.
The Briton was unbothered in the first stint of the race, as the two Red Bulls of Verstappen and Hadjar rose to third and fourth respectively. Oscar Piastri overtook Charles Leclerc for second at the first corner and valiantly defended against the charging Red Bulls to keep them at bay.
The Safety Car was brought out on lap 31 after Alex Albon crashed his Williams into the barrier, and Verstappen overtook Piastri for second on the restart.
The race was instantly neutralised again after Franco Colapinto locked up and skittled into Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Lando Norris, who found himself down the order after an earlier lock up, on the restart.
At the same time, Arvid Lindblad spun his Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson after failing to find space between the Kiwi and Esteban Ocon in an optimistic move.
Verstappen closely followed Russell for the final act and capitalised on a very late yellow flag, caused by Valterri Bottas crashing his Cadillac, to finish just 0.196 seconds shy of Russell.
Isack Hadjar completed a double podium for Red Bull after Oscar Piastri suffered a similar race-ruining lock up as his McLaren teammate.
Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari ahead of Kimi Antonelli in fifth. Championship leader Antonelli had a slower return to the front of the field, after starting out of his normal position, compared to his drive in Monza.
The other Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton finished sixth with Arvid Lindblad and Esteban Ocon behind in seventh and eight respectively. The latter pair crossed the line side-by-side with less than a tenth difference.
Ollie Bearman finished ninth to bag a double points finish for Haas, as Carlos Sainz took the final points position for Williams.
Nico Hulkenberg ended up in eleventh for Audi as the frustrated Liam Lawson finished twelfth in his fiftieth Grand Prix.
Piastri wound up in P13 despite his efforts. Cadillac’s Sergio Perez and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto rounded out the finishers.
The Baku street circuit saw six drivers failing to finish, including Lando Norris, the Alpine pair, Alex Albon, Valterri Bottas and the two Aston Martin drivers. Both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll retired with separate technical issues.
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