Russell survives Verstappen's relentless late charge to win Baku by 0.1 seconds

George Russell clung on to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by a mere 0.1 seconds after Max Verstappen mounted a ferocious late charge in Baku, with a late safety car wiping out the commanding lead the Mercedes driver had built over the field.

Russell had appeared to be cruising to victory before the safety car neutralised the race and handed Verstappen, on fresh soft tyres, a clear shot at the win on the restart. The Red Bull driver pushed hard all the way to the chequered flag but could not find a way past.

F1 TV pundit Alex Brundle, speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, captured the tension of those closing laps. “That is like nightmare fuel, seeing Max Verstappen skidding up, tapping walls on a set of soft tyres behind you, just desperate to make your life as difficult as possible,” Brundle said. He also noted the stakes for both drivers: “You think George Russell’s got nothing to lose at this stage in the championship, Verstappen properly has nothing to lose apart from the opportunity to take a race victory.”

Russell himself acknowledged how close it came. “It was a great weekend. Got a bit tense towards the end,” the Briton said. “Max was really pushing hard and our pace was incredible, the two of us, we were pulling almost a second a lap to everybody else.”

A yellow flag on the final lap nearly proved decisive. “When that yellow flag came out, I backed off. And when I went back on the power, I had no turbo, so when I had no power, that’s when he almost passed me,” Russell explained.

The victory has tightened the championship picture at the top. Russell’s win in Baku cuts the gap to his Mercedes team-mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli to 66 points. Antonelli leads with 302 points, Russell sits second on 236, and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton occupies third place with 199 points.