F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix results: Baku chaos delivers thrilling finish and more misery for Lewis Hamilton

George Russell took an excellent lights-to-flag victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon in Baku, but he was pushed right to the limit by Max Verstappen.

The Mercedes star took the victory by just 0.196 seconds after a fantastic battle over the last 15 laps, with the Brit fighting tooth and nail to take his first victory since the Austrian Grand Prix back in June.

Verstappen makes blistering start

Verstappen scythed his way through the field in the opening laps from eighth on the grid, swallowing up Lando Norris and the Ferraris with impressive pace and the use of overtake mode down the long front straight, only to get stuck behind Oscar Piastri for some 20 laps before Alex Albon crashed to bring out a safety car.

That safety car erased the 10-second lead that Russell had pulled out over the chasing trio of Piastri, Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, with he and Verstappen switching onto the optimal soft tyres while Piastri and the other Red Bull had to swap to mediums.

Verstappen restarted brilliantly when that safety car period ended, launching past Piastri and up into second place behind Russell, before a laser-guided Franco Colapinto kicked off a four-car shunt behind him into the first corner to bring out a second safety car almost immediately.

Russell vs Verstappen for the win

The second restart was much cleaner, allowing Russell and Verstappen to vanish up the road while Piastri and Hadjar squabbled over third place. That was a short-lived squabble, as it turned out, as the Australian went off into the run-off area at the first corner a couple of laps later, dropping out of the points entirely.

Verstappen hounded the Brit right to the line but was just unable to close the gap to the polesitter, leaving him still winless this season.

Behind that battle, Kimi Antonelli slowly picked his way through the field from 16th on the grid after his crash in qualifying, taking full advantage of the safety car closing the field up to claim ten points for fifth place and somewhat salvage his weekend.

The grim reality for Lewis Hamilton

If there was any doubt that Lewis Hamilton is absolutely no threat to Antonelli's championship aspirations, that was dispelled when the Brit was overtaken and comfortably beaten by his Mercedes replacement, who had started ten places ahead of him.

Haas broke a pointless streak going back eight races thanks to a double points finish from Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman (eighth and ninth), while Carlos Sainz took his revamped Williams to his first points finish since May.

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2026 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Results

1. George Russell [Mercedes]
2. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - +0.196s
3. Isack Hadjar [Red Bull] - +10.704s
4. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +14.136s
5. Kimi Antonelli [Mercedes] - +14.512s
6. Lewis Hamilton [Ferrari] - +22.382s
7. Arvid Lindblad [Racing Bulls] - +31.159s
8. Esteban Ocon [Haas] - +31.189s
9. Oliver Bearman [Haas] - +31.929s
10. Carlos Sainz [Williams] - +32.416s
11. Nico Hulkenberg [Audi] - +33.231s
12. Liam Lawson [Racing Bulls] - +34.013s
13. Gabriel Bortoleto [Audi] - +34.230s
14. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +36.401s
15. Sergio Perez [Cadillac] - +41.400s
16. Valtteri Bottas [Cadillac] - DNF
NC. Franco Colapinto [Alpine] - DNF
NC. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - DNF
NC. Lando Norris [McLaren] - DNF
NC. Alex Albon [Williams] - DNF
NC. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] - DNF
NC. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] - DNF

Who is the current F1 world champion?

Lando Norris is the reigning F1 champion, and won his first drivers' championship last year.

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