George Russell claimed a narrow victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday, holding off Max Verstappen in a dramatic finish in Baku.
The Mercedes driver led for most of the race after starting from pole position and crossed the finish line just one tenth of a second ahead of Verstappen.
The result allowed Russell to cut team-mate Kimi Antonelli’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 66 points. It was Russell’s third victory of the season and his first since June.
Russell had built a lead of more than 10 seconds before the Safety Car was brought out on Lap 31 following Alex Albon’s crash.
The restart gave Verstappen the chance to move up the order, with the Red Bull driver passing Oscar Piastri before putting pressure on Russell. The pair stayed within a second of each other during the closing stages, but Russell managed to keep Verstappen behind.
A yellow flag on the final lap caused by Valtteri Bottas’ stopped car gave Verstappen another opportunity, but the Dutchman could not find a way past.
Isack Hadjar completed the podium in third on his return to Formula 1 after missing the previous three races because of a wrist injury. The result marked his second podium of the season and gave Red Bull a double podium.
The race was also affected by a chaotic Safety Car restart. Franco Colapinto locked up at Turn 1 and collided with team-mate Pierre Gasly, with Lando Norris also caught up in the incident. All three drivers retired.
Piastri later suffered a similar problem at Turn 1 and dropped to 15th before eventually finishing 14th. The result meant McLaren left Baku without scoring a point, with Norris also retiring.
Antonelli benefited from the chaos to finish fifth, while Haas and Williams also picked up valuable points.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix marked 10 years since Baku joined the Formula 1 calendar and once again produced plenty of drama.
With Russell taking victory and Antonelli finishing fifth, Mercedes leave Baku with the championship battle between their two drivers becoming closer. Russell has now reduced the gap to his team-mate to 66 points with the season entering its final stages.
The F2 championship also tightened in Baku, with Rafael Camara taking the lead after winning the second Feature Race. He now holds a seven-point advantage over Nikola Tsolov, while Alexander Dunne is a further 11 points behind.
