Bortoleto drops two places after Azerbaijan Grand Prix penalty

George Russell held off Max Verstappen to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by 0.196 seconds after two safety-car periods tightened the fight for the lead. [1]

Russell controlled the early stages while Verstappen climbed from eighth on the grid. Alex Albon’s crash at Turn Five on lap 30 brought out the first safety car. Verstappen passed Oscar Piastri at the restart to take second, before a collision involving Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris put the race back under caution. [1]

Verstappen stayed close but could not make a passing attempt. On the final lap, Russell slowed for yellow flags after Valtteri Bottas crashed. BBC Sport reported that Russell then lost turbo power and electrical boost, allowing Verstappen to close at the finish. Norris retired after the earlier collision, while Piastri finished 14th after running into the escape road at Turn One. [1]

Isack Hadjar finished third on his return after missing three races with a broken wrist. Russell’s victory cut team-mate Kimi Antonelli’s championship lead to 66 points; Antonelli finished fifth after starting 16th. [1]

Update

George Russell won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, taking his third victory of the 2026 season and his first since the end of June. Two mid-race safety cars brought Verstappen close, and Russell lost turbo boost pressure after slowing for a yellow flag on the final lap, but he held on. [2]

Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli recovered to fifth after a qualifying mistake left him 16th on the grid. He said his confidence had been low and described the race as damage limitation. The result cut Antonelli’s championship lead over Russell from 81 points to 66. [2]

Russell credited the resilience of his engineers and changes to his driving style for helping him through a difficult stretch with this year’s car. He called Azerbaijan the most dominant weekend of his career and said his driving was becoming more intuitive.