Mercedes’ George Russell dominated the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix to cut his title deficit to 66 points.
Russell survived two safety car periods after he initially built a 11-second lead before he pitted on lap 32 under the first safety car, before he fought off Max Verstappen for victory.
Isack Hadjar rounded out the podium on his return from a wrist injury which forced him to miss the last three rounds, as Red Bull recorded a first double-podium finish since the 2024 Chinese GP.
Charles Leclerc finished fourth ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli who drove from 16th to fifth, with Lewis Hamilton, Arvid Lindblad, Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman and Carlos Sainz completing the top ten.
In the drivers’ standings, Antonelli’s title lead over Russell was trimmed to 66 points.
At lights out, Russell made a clean start unchallenged as Leclerc lost second to Piastri who swept round the outside of the first corner to take the position, whilst Lando Norris passed Hadjar for fourth and Verstappen cleared Gasly for seventh.
Verstappen then demoted Hamilton on lap two before Hadjar then him demoted Norris on the third lap, with Leclerc then dispatched by the Red Bull pair on lap four.
On lap seven, Red Bull instructed Hadjar to let Verstappen through in their bid to catch and pass Piastri but the Aussie held firm against the pressure of the Red Bull duo, as Hadjar sat comfortably behind Verstappen as the Dutchman’s rear-guard.
Norris meanwhile lost sixth to Hamilton on lap 17 as the McLaren driver struggled with his new upgrades, whilst Russell comfortably built up a 11-second lead over Piastri.
Proceedings however was neutralised on lap 31 with the safety car deployed after Williams’ Alex Albon crashed heavily into the barriers at Turn Five a lap earlier, which allowed everyone to make their stops with Norris having fell to ninth after he ran deep at the first corner on lap 30.
Racing recommenced on lap 36 as Verstappen swept past Piastri for second but just further behind the leading pack, Franco Colapinto locked up his front brakes into the first corner and clattered into his Alpine teammate, Pierre Gasly who slid into Norris on the outside line.
Norris ultimately was sent into the barriers, whilst Gasly and Colapinto also retired due to the damage inflicted on their Alpine cars as the safety car came out until the end of lap 38, with Colapinto subsequently handed a five-place grid penalty for the next race as he was at fault for the incident.
On the second restart on lap 39, Piastri locked up into Turn One as he defended from Hadjar and fell from third to 15th position to end any hopes of a podium finish.
Antonelli benefitted from Piastri’s mistake to move up to sixth after he had initially slipped from 16th to 17th at the start of the race, before he then passed Hamilton on lap 43 for fifth.
Up front, Russell fought off Verstappen to take his third Grand Prix win of the season by just 0.196s, as Hadjar on his return from a wrist injury settled for third.
F1 now move onto Sepang, Malaysia for the 2026 Bahrain GP from 2-4 October, with the race being held in South-East Asia in lieu of Sakhir due to the Middle East conflict and fully funded by Bahrain.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 51 | 1h 38m 02.143 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 51 | + 0.196 |
| 3 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 51 | + 10.704 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 51 | + 14.136 |
| 5 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 51 | + 14.512 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 51 | + 22.382 |
| 7 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 51 | + 31.159 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 51 | + 31.189 |
| 9 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 51 | + 31.929 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 51 | + 32.416 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 51 | + 33.231 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 51 | + 34.013 |
| 13 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 51 | + 34.230 |
| 14 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 51 | + 36.401 |
| 15 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | 51 | + 41.400 |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 50 | Crash |
| RET | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 36 | Suspension |
| RET | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 35 | Collision |
| RET | Lando Norris | McLaren | 35 | Collision |
| RET | Alex Albon | Williams | 29 | Crash |
| RET | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 20 | Mechanical |
| RET | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 7 | Mechanical |
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