This year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix was brought forward by a day to Saturday 26th September to avoid conflicting with the country’s annual Remembrance Day on the 27th, which is a solemn national day of mourning to honour the military personnel killed during the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh. With the entire schedule for the round in Baku moved forward by a day, including for the practice and qualifying sessions, it was Mercedes’ George Russell who ultimately beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by less than 0.2 of a second at the end of Saturday’s main event.

After suffering a fractured wrist during a summer break training session and missing the following three Grands Prix, the French driver, Isack Hadjar, had extensive simulator testing sessions before returning to his Red Bull seat for the Baku event, as New Zealand’s Liam Lawson stepped back to his usual Racing Bulls car. Hadjar received further encouragement in Baku when they confirmed he would be retained next year for a second season as Verstappen’s teammate.

So, we had the unusual spectacle of a couple of opening free practice sessions on a Thursday rather than a Friday, and it was Russell who topped the timing screens in both. The first time out, the car of his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, suffered a hydraulic failure, and Verstappen proved to be the best of the rest. Later, Antonelli missed the first half of the second practice period due to ongoing repairs to his Mercedes but finished the hour in second place. Meanwhile, both Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, lamented being over a second adrift of Russell’s pace. Hamilton also received an official reprimand from the stewards, his second of the season, for blocking Lawson during FP2. The latter was on a flying lap, while Hamilton was on a slower out lap and failed to get out of the way despite twice being warned about the approaching Racing Bulls driver by his Ferrari race engineer. Verstappen then went fastest in Friday’s final practice session ahead of Russell.

This was followed by qualifying for Saturday’s race, and Russell claimed the 12th pole position of his Formula 1 career, over 0.8s clear of second-placed Leclerc, a gap which is light years in F1 terms. In contrast, Antonelli hit the Turn 1 inside barrier in Q1, forcing his retirement and starting from 16th on the grid. As such, the absent team principal and part owner, Toto Wolff, would have had mixed feelings as he followed proceedings from elsewhere.

Saturday’s Grand Prix around the streets of central Baku began at three pm local time (noon back in the UK), with particular focus on two drivers. Would Russell, who had dominated the weekend so far, translate his form into a race victory and help reduce his major points deficit to his teammate? Also, how much of a recovery drive could Antonelli, who was annoyed with himself for his qualifying mistake, achieve from the eighth row on the grid on a challenging street circuit where overtaking is far from easy?

Another question was how the returning Hadjar would fare after outqualifying his far more illustrious team leader, who had suffered problems with his internal combustion engine and battery and had been delayed by yellow flags caused by an off for Lando Norris. Furthermore, what race pace might the improving McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Norris be able to show? The answers were soon to be provided.

Kimi Antonelli rose from 16th on the grid to fifth

After a clean start, Russell soon established an early lead, and Piastri quickly got the better of Leclerc. Meanwhile, both Red Bulls were showing fine pace, as by lap five Hadjar was running third, with Verstappen just one position behind him, and two tours later the latter swept past his teammate. This left the running order as Russell, Piastri, Verstappen and Hadjar.

While Aston Martin suffered a double retirement, out front Russell was gradually increasing his lead over Piastri to double figures as Verstappen and Hadjar circulated in close proximity and Antonelli was busy climbing from 16th to eighth. What was proving to be something of a slow burn of a Grand Prix suddenly became far more dramatic after Alex Albon had speared his Williams into the trackside barriers, summoning the safety car into action. With Race Control deciding that a red flag stoppage would not be necessary, multiple pitstops quickly followed, and, come the restart on lap 36, all remaining cars were close together, with Russell’s significant lead reduced to almost nothing.

Verstappen immediately usurped Piastri for second, but there was chaos to their rear as the pack attempted to clear Turn 1. An out-of-control Franco Colapinto collided with both his Alpine teammate, Pierre Gasly, and Norris, and Lawson was hit by his Racing Bulls teammate, Arvid Lindblad. Colapinto in particular would have been well advised to steer clear of his team boss, Flavio Briatore, when back in the pits after the loss of two potential points, earning top ten finishes!

With plenty of debris strewn across the track and Norris’ car stranded, race control called the safety car back into action before racing resumed. This time everyone passed through Turn 1 without incident, with Russell leading from Verstappen and Piastri, but next time round Piastri left the circuit and dropped to 15th. As the closing laps ensued, Russell and Verstappen pulled well ahead of the rest, and as they flew past the chequered flag, the winning margin for Russell was a mere 0.196s.

A fifth place finish for Antonelli meant that his lead over Russell in the Drivers’ Championship was reduced to 66 points, with Mercedes still well clear of Ferrari on the Constructors’ front.

An unusual event is to follow in just one week’s time after the Formula 1 paddock has relocated to the Far East, as the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia is set to take place at the Sepang International Circuit, south of Kuala Lumpur, which had previously hosted F1 rounds from 1999 to 2017. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East had forced the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix earlier this year, and so an arrangement has been made for it to now still take place, if in Malaysia. The Bahrain title has been retained, though, as the country is largely funding the round.



2026 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
1 George Russell (Mercedes) 1hr38m2.143s
2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.196s
3 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +10.704s
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +14.146s
5 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) + 14.512s
6 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +22.382s
7 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +31.159s
8 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +31.189s
9 Oliver Bearman (Haas) +31.929s
10 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +32.416s
11 Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) +33.231s
12 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +34.013s
13 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +34.230s
14 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +36.401s
15 Sergio Pérez (Cadillac) +41.400s
16 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) Retired
17 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) Retired
18 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) Retired
19 Lando Norris (McLaren) Retired
20 Alex Albon (Williams) Retired
21 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) Retired
22 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) Retired



2026 Drivers’ Championship
1 Kimi Antonelli 302
2 George Russell 236
3 Lewis Hamilton 199

2026 Constructors’ Championship
1 Mercedes 538
2 Ferrari 378
3 McLaren 306