George Russell met the moment in the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
George Russell has won the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
And he certainly had to work for it.
After building up a lead of nearly ten seconds over Oscar Piastri, a pair of Safety Cars turned what was a solitary drive around the Baku City Circuit into a chaotic affair for the the Mercedes driver. And on the second restart it was none other than Max Verstappen filling his rear-view mirrors, pushing Russell over the final stint of the race to the checkered flag.
While Verstappen chipped away at Russell’s lead, pushing the Mercedes driver corner after corner, Russell held on, securing a win he desperately needed to keep his championship hopes alive.
“Win every race, that’s the gameplan,” said Russell after the race trackside to Timo Glock. “My teammate’s had an incredible season, he’s been pretty flawless throughout, but we’re now getting to crunchtime. But, I’m just going to focus on myself. If I keep on delivering performance like I’ve done this weekend, no matter what happens at the end of the season, I’ll be happy, because it’s been a really tough period for me, and I’ll feel like I’ve come out the other side.”
He should be happy after this performance, that is for sure.
The first half of the race matched what we have seen from the F1 grid throughout the rest of the week in Baku. Russell, who was fastest in both FP1 and FP2, and took pole position with a commanding performance on Friday, drove away from the field while the rest of the grid fought for places well behind him.
But the walls on the tight Baku City Circuit are always looming, and eventually they claimed some victims. First it was Alexander Albon, who locked up heading into Turn 5, bringing out the first Safety Car of the afternoon and closing up the field.
That triggered a series of pit stops, including Russell, but more importantly it reset the field behind the race leader, and Russell’s advantage over Piastri was erased. The Mercedes driver maintained his lead on the restart, as Verstappen managed to slide by Piastri to take P2.
But then, more chaos followed, as Franco Colapinto slid to the inside of Turn 1 to try and make the tight left-handed turn. Rather than making the corner, he clattered into teammate Pierre Gasly. That pushed Gasly into Lando Norris, knocking all three out of the race. It ruined what was shaping up to be a brilliant day for Alpine, with both drivers in the top ten.
Colapinto apologized to the team for the incident, shortly after he climbed out of his car.
That brought out a second Safety Car, and neutralized the field yet again behind Russell. Only this time, he was staring at the four-time Drivers’ Champion in his rear-view mirrors.
“The second I saw Max behind I thought it’s not going to be easy,” said Russell after the race to Timo Glock.
Russell maintained the lead over Verstappen out of the restart, but the two pushed each other to the limits over the remaining laps of the race. By Lap 49, Russell was still in the lead, but Verstappen was right on the rear wing of Russell’s W17, within a second of the lead, and both drivers were winding around the circuit on soft tires, pushing themselves and their machines to the limit.
Verstappen did brush the wall at the tricky Turn 15 once, but managed to avoid damaging his tires. He was also noted by the stewards for failing to follow the race director’s instructions, but he was cleared of that investigation as well. Cleared of a potential penalty and with a functioning car that had come alive for both him and teammate Isack Hadjar on the Baku streets, he was free to try and chase down Russell. Verstappen maintained the pressure on Russell, pushing the race leader wide at the start of Lap 50, closing within a half-second of the Mercedes.
As the final lap began, Russell had a lead of one second over Verstappen, as the two came out of Turn 16 and rocketed down the long straight to start the final lap. Russell used a phenomenal second sector on the penultimate lap, winding through the tight castle section of the circuit, to build that gap back up for the final tour around the Baku streets.
Russell had Verstappen in his rear-view mirrors throughout the final lap, and then the racing gods delivered one last bit of chaos. Valtteri Bottas at the end of the lap found the barrier, bringing out a yellow flag just ahead of where Russell and Verstappen were on Turn 15. But a Safety Car did not come out, and as Russell lost some power through that section Verstappen charged ahead, pulling right to the rear wing of the Mercedes on Turn 16, setting up a drag race to the checkered flag.
Which Russell won, by one-tenth of a second.
“That was a finish at the end, with a strange moment with a Cadillac in the wall, but Max Verstappen and George Russell putting on a show,” said Alex Jacques in the F1TV commentary booth.
And then everyone caught their breath.
“We had a good race. The first stint was probably a little difficult with the medium tire,” said Verstappen. “I got close, but it was not enough.”
Hadjar, in his return to racing after missing three races due to a wrist injury, completed the podium with a third-place finish.
“I’m happy. It’s been very long six weeks since I injured myself. I think it was the right time to come back, I felt strong,” said Hadjar. “It was a very slow buildup, but it brought me here, so I’m very very happy for my first proper podium on pure pace.”
But this was a result that Russell badly needed, to keep his admittedly slim chances of a Drivers’ Championship alive. While Russell started on pole position, teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli started down in P16, after a mistake in Q1 ended his qualifying session early.
However, we have seen that scenario already this season, when Antonelli started at the back of the grid for the Italian Grand Prix due to a power unit change, while Russell started second. But on that afternoon in Monza Antonelli roared through the field and to a win, seemingly putting one hand on the championship trophy. A repeat performance from Antonelli on this day in Baku would likely put that second hand on the hardware.
Not today, as Russell held on for the win, as Antonelli settled for fifth. That pulls Russell within 66 points of Antonelli at the sharp end of the grid,
“I do want to say a big thanks to my team, they continue to believe in me,” added Russell after the race.
And now, he just might believe again in his own title chances.