George Russell wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Kimi Antonelli recovers to fifth

Mercedes’ George Russell went from lights-to-flag at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, recovered to fifth place.

Feature image credit: By Courtesy of Pirelli

Russell has converted his 12th pole position into his eighth race win of his career, keeping his championship hopes alive in a lights-to-flag performance, just pipping Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. 

The Mercedes driver had been in a world of his own for the entirety of the weekend, topping all but one session at the Baku City Circuit. 

Despite being chased down at the end of the race, by Verstappen, Russell went on to claim victory by 0.196 seconds over the leading Red Bull as Isack Hadjar completed a double podium finish for the Milton Keynes squad. 

It was a dramatic race that saw seven drivers retire across the 51-lap race, with Aston Martin and Alpine suffering double DNF’s. 

After qualifying 16th overall, having crashed in Q1, Russell’s championship rival – and current points leader – Kimi Antonelli recovered to fifth place, in between the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Race Results

How the Azerbaijan Grand Prix unfolded

When the lights went out, Russell – and the rest of the field – managed to work their way through the opening corners respectively, with Russell pipping Leclerc off the line. However, after the opening lap, the running order stood as; Russell, Piastri and Leclerc. 

The Red Bulls showed great early pace, with the two cars moving up to third and fourth overall, by lap five, despite the differing strategies as Isack Hadjar sat ahead of Max Verstappen, equipped with the soft and medium tyres, respectively. 

‘Race time is priority’ is the instruction as Verstappen rapidly decreased the gap on Hadjar, on lap seven, which meant the four-time world champion overtook the Frenchman with ease and into the podium-scoring positions. 

For the second consecutive weekend, on lap nine, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll retired from the race. The Canadian was instructed to stop the car with an issue, and Stroll pulled it off the track at turn 15. It follows on from his last retirement at Madrid, last time out. 

As the Aston Martin was off track, no safety car was deployed nor needed. 

Russell clears ahead to Azerbaijan Grand Prix pole as Antonelli crashes

Seven laps later, Norris ran deep into turn six, cutting the corner. Hamilton tried to get past on the run to turn seven, but the seven-time world champion was held back. However, the Ferrari finally managed to get past on the pit straight. 

On lap 22, the two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso peeled into the pits down in 21st to become the second retirement of the race, marking a double-DNF for the Aston Martin outfit. 

At the halfway point of the race, Russell had voiced his concern – despite being nearly 10 seconds out in the lead – after ‘nibbling’ the barrier at turn 15. Onboards showed the Briton had glanced the barrier with his tyres. Fortunately, for the Mercedes driver, the team reported there were no concerns to the #63 Mercedes.

Norris was one of the front runners who finally pulled into the pits first, on lap 30, after locked up into the first corner, but he was able to return to the circuit without issue. However, further up the road, Albon had nose-dived into the barrier at the turns five and six chicane. 

On boards showed that the Williams driver had locked up his front-left tyre, and was unable to avoid the barrier. 

‘He’s been flawless’ says Russell insisting he will fight for the championship

Those down from sixth downwards, boxed for a cheap stop straight away, with the likes of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, were the first to pull the trigger. However, the remaining drivers were able to pull into the pits at the end of the 31st lap.

The race finally restarted on lap 36, but there was drama straight away. Verstappen dived down the inside of turn one, overtaking McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for second place. However, there was a big accident by the back of the pack, taking out two drivers, Norris and Gasly. 

Replays showed that Alpine’s Franco Colapinto suffered a heavy lock up into the opening corner, and collided with his teammate, who took out Norris in the process. Additionally, Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad made contact with Liam Lawson and the Kiwi was also spun out. 

As a result of the crash, the safety car was redeployed out onto the circuit, as Colapinto pulled into the pit lane to retire with rear suspension damage. 

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At the end of the 38th lap, the race resumed once more. However, this second restart was more well behaved as the drivers worked their way through the track without issue. But, at the end of the following lap, Piastri locked up into the opening corner and found himself dropping down out of the podium position all the way down to 15th overall. 

On the final lap, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas found himself in the barrier at turn 15. Both Russell and Verstappen were able to slip by without issue, but Russell had lost power heading down the last straight, after passing the stricken Cadillac. 

It left the Briton vulnerable down the pit straight, but he was able to clinch the win with just under two tenths in hand over Red Bull’s four-time world champion. Hadjar came home to complete the double podium for Red Bull Racing, as Antonelli recovered to fifth overall from 16th. 

Race results

1.  George Russell, Mercedes
2.  Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +0.196s
3.  Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing +10.704s
4.  Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +14.136s
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 Hulkenberg, Audi +33.231s
12.  Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls +34.013s
13.  Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi +34.230s
14.  Oscar Piastri, McLaren +36.401s
15.  Sergio Perez, Cadillac +41.4s
16.  Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac – DNF
17.  Franco Colapinto, Alpine – DNF
18.  Pierre Gasly, Alpine – DNF
19.  Lando Norris, McLaren – DNF
20.  Alexander Albon, Williams – DNF
21.  Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin – DNF
22.  Lance Stroll, Aston Martin – DNF

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.