George Russell Survives Late Drama to Win as Verstappen Closes In

Russell Survives Late Turbo Failure in Baku

The race began smoothly for the Mercedes driver, who built a comfortable gap during the first half of the event. However, a late safety car bunched the field back together and erased that advantage, bringing Verstappen directly into contention for the lead.

A Tense Finish Under Yellow Flags

When a yellow flag forced him to lift off the power, Russell experienced a mechanical issue as he got back on the throttle.

When the yellow flag came out, I lifted off the power, and when I came back had no turbo, then I had no turbo, and Max nearly got me at the line,

George Russell describing the tense closing moments of the race.

It’s amazing to be back on the top step, so I want to say a big thank you to the team for helping me through a tough moment. The first half of the race felt pretty plain sailing, getting the gap, but after the safety car and I saw Max behind me I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

George Russell

Verstappen Capitalizes on Medium Tires

The Red Bull driver benefited directly from Russell’s final-lap power loss to close the gap dramatically before the checkered flag.

We had a good race. It was a little bit difficult with the medium tyre but we still worked our way into P3, then when I got to P2 it was one second, 1.1… In the final lap, in the yellow flag, George lost a bit of boost so that’s why I caught up quite a bit. It got close, but not enough.

Max Verstappen

Hadjar Claims Podium After Injury Layoff

Meanwhile, Isack Hadjar secured a notable podium finish on pure pace after returning from a six-week recovery following an injury. The driver admitted that the physical layoff made the return challenging, but expressed satisfaction with his performance and a clean weekend on track.

It’s been a very long six weeks, six weeks since I injured myself. It felt like the right moment to come back, I felt strong. I took it step by step, you can end up in the wall easily and I didn’t need that. And it’s a first proper podium on pure pace, so I’m delighted. I’m completely satisfied even though my wrist is a bit numb. I’m looking forward to the rest of the racing, it’ll be a packed schedule and I’m looking forward to Sepang.

Isack Hadjar

Championship Headed to Sepang

The field now prepares for the upcoming rounds as the championship calendar moves toward the race in Sepang.