The Azerbaijan Grand Prix went to George Russell of Mercedes, who led from pole on the streets of Baku, Azerbaijan and held off Max Verstappen by just 0.196 seconds after two late-race Safety Cars erased a comfortable lead (official result). Isack Hadjar finished third to give Red Bull Racing a double podium.
How it was won
Russell set up the weekend with pole by 0.837s over Charles Leclerc, the biggest pole margin of the season, then made a clean getaway on medium tyres. By half distance he was close to 10 seconds clear of Oscar Piastri, with the Red Bull pair climbing through the order behind them (Formula1.com report).
The race turned when Alex Albon locked up and hit the barrier at Turn 6, bringing out the first Safety Car and a pit window for the leaders. At the restart Franco Colapinto locked up into Turn 1 and hit Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly, who could not avoid Lando Norris; all three retired and a second Safety Car followed. Piastri then locked up at Turn 1 after the next restart and fell out of the points.
That left Verstappen right behind Russell for the closing laps. The Dutchman pulled alongside on the run to the flag on Lap 51 but came up a tenth short. Russell said afterward that lifting for a late yellow flag briefly left him without turbo boost, which nearly cost him the win (Formula1.com).
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli crashed in Q1 and started 16th, but recovered to fifth.
Results snapshot
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time / Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:38:02.143 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +0.196s |
| 3 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | +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 F1 Team | +31.189s |
| 9 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | +31.929s |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +32.416s |
Race facts (Formula1.com official classification): 51 laps; two Safety Car periods; seven cars did not finish (Colapinto, Gasly, Norris, Albon, Alonso, Stroll, plus Bottas, who was still classified 16th after a late crash). Gabriel Bortoleto was classified 15th after a 10-second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. Full order: Formula1.com race result.
Drivers’ standings after Baku: Antonelli 302, Russell 236, Hamilton 199, Norris 186, Leclerc 179 (Formula1.com standings).
History & significance
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is one of the fastest street races on the calendar, run on the 6.003-km Baku City Circuit along the Caspian Sea waterfront and through the old city. The 2026 edition moved to a Saturday race day.
For Russell, it was his third win of 2026, the eighth of his career, and his first since Austria in June. It trimmed his gap to teammate Antonelli to 66 points. For Red Bull, Hadjar’s third place, in his return from injury (Motorsport.com), gave the team its first double podium since the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix (GPFans).
What’s next
Round 16 on the official Formula1.com 2026 calendar is the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, held at Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, Malaysia, on October 2–4 (race Sunday, October 4). The Singapore Grand Prix follows on October 9–11. Texas fans can circle the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin on October 25, 2026.