George Russell wins Azerbaijan GP after battle with Verstappen

British driver George Russell of Mercedes won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after holding off pressure from Red Bull's Max Verstappen in a dramatic finish separated by just 0.196 seconds. The intense battle and the crashes that marked the race put the global motorsport category in the spotlight. The result also shook up the championship standings, reducing the leader's advantage.

George Russell's dramatic victory in the final laps

Russell started from pole position and led every lap of the race, securing the victory and also the fastest lap of the Grand Prix. However, the triumph had moments of tension on the final lap when Valtteri Bottas crashed his Cadillac at Turn 15, requiring extra caution from the drivers due to the yellow flag. Verstappen closed in significantly on the main straight, but the Englishman secured the win by a margin of 0.196s. With this result, Russell claimed his third victory of the year and reduced the gap to championship leader Kimi Antonelli from 81 to 66 points.

Internal battles and the return of Isack Hadjar

Frenchman Isack Hadjar returned to the Red Bull car after missing three races due to a wrist injury. Hadjar showed strong pace and even asked the team over the radio if he could overtake his teammate, Verstappen, claiming he was faster. He was given permission for the move, provided it was done cleanly, but ultimately finished on the podium in third place after Oscar Piastri went straight at Turn 1 and plummeted down the order. The result marked a double podium finish for Red Bull, something that had not happened since the 2024 Chinese GP.

Crashes and penalties shake up the circuit

The race had moments of disruption in the second half. On lap 30, Alexander Albon crashed his Williams, which required the safety car to deploy to control the pace of the competitors. Shortly after the restart, Franco Colapinto made a mistake by locking his tires, hitting Pierre Gasly, who was thrown into Lando Norris. Due to the incident, the Argentine driver was penalized ten seconds and will lose five grid positions for the next race. Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto finished in 13th place, after also suffering a penalty of a two-place grid drop for overtaking under yellow flags.

Championship standings after the Azerbaijan race

Despite starting 16th due to a crash in qualifying, championship leader Kimi Antonelli recovered to finish the race in fifth place. Antonelli leads the standings with 302 points, followed by Russell with 236 points, and Lewis Hamilton in third with 199 points. In the constructors' championship, Mercedes has 538 points against Ferrari's 378 points. The next round of the championship is scheduled to take place between October 2 and 4, with the Bahrain Grand Prix held in Malaysia, at the Sepang Circuit.

With information from ge, UOL.