George Russell took a big risk but won in Baku; Charles Leclerc finished just off the podium. Kimi Antonelli staged a great comeback.

George Russell claims his third victory of the season in the 2026 F1 World Championship in Baku: The British Mercedes driver won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, leading the race virtually from start to finish, despite the field bunching up due to the safety car being deployed following Alex Albon’s (Williams) crash on lap 31.

Behind Russell were the two Red Bulls: Max Verstappen finished second, giving Russell quite a scare on the final lap, while Isack Hadjar rounded out the podium, 10 seconds behind. Just off the podium was the first of the two Ferraris, driven by Charles Leclerc, who edged out an impressive Kimi Antonelli in the final sprint; Antonelli managed to bring his Mercedes into the top 5 despite starting from 16th on the grid.

The other Ferrari, driven by Lewis Hamilton, finished in sixth place after a rather uneventful race. Finishing in the points, between seventh and tenth place, were Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), Esteban Ocon (Haas), Ollie Bearman (Haas), and Carlos Sainz (Williams), with the latter doing well to outpace Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi in the final sprint.