2026 Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP
F1 Azerbaijan GP: Follow the race in Baku
Lap-by-lap updates of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku Street Circuit
Live Standings
Live Text
Right, that's all from us as the podium celebrations are about to begin! Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next weekend for the Bahrain GP...in Malaysia!
George Russell: "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.
"But 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."
Max Verstappen: "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..."
Isack Hadjar: "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."
Russell and Verstappen debrief that one, I think they enjoyed that battle. Hadjar gets the plaudits from his team, three races out, new contract, and then a podium finish to reward that wait.
Antonelli was just 0.376s behind Leclerc by the end, while Lindblad took seventh by just 0.03s from Ocon. That is probably a hair's breadth, isn't it?
"After the double-yellow I lost the boost," Russell says, but he's managed it. Nothing between him and Verstappen.
Hadjar claims third place, a double-podium for Red Bull. Leclerc, Antonelli, Hamilton, Lindblad, Ocon, Bearman, and Sainz is your top 10 order.
Russell shortens the route to the finish line, and JUST stays ahead of Verstappen by a tenth! Wow!
Lindblad then noses past Ocon at the line to take seventh!
Final lap! Verstappen has one last chance to try throw something at Russell - can he do it?
Equally, Lindblad is within touching distance of Ocon, with Bearman and Sainz shaping up behind.
Bottas has hit the wall at Turn 15. This is good for Russell, he just needs to slow down - but Verstappen is RIGHT behind him!
Verstappen's trying to force the issue here. Like Piastri earlier, Russell is finding just enough in the middle sector here to keep Verstappen in check.
Russell got about three tenths through Turns 8-12, and thus the four-time champion sits 1.4s behind by the final corner.
No further investigation for Verstappen, who won't get overtake mode on this occasion, but he's going to press Russell all the way here.
Lindblad puts a sneak attack on Bearman to clinch eighth place at Turn 3, and the Racing Bulls driver will now try to catch Ocon.
Verstappen sets a fastest lap, but is still being repelled by Russell for now.
Sainz passes Hulkenberg for 10th.
Five laps to go. Verstappen seemed to touch the wall on the entry to Turn 16, and asks 'GP' to check his tyres. All fine, it seems, but he's further back this time out of the final proper corner.
Antonelli's finding a little bit of pace over Leclerc, but not enough to get close to the Ferrari driver.
Bortoleto will be looked at for a potential yellow flag infringement.
Verstappen gets very close this time into Turn 1, closing it down to just 0.4s, but Russell holds on. The race leader finds enough margin to evade overtake on this occasion.
Hadjar is now 1.4s clear of Leclerc, and needs to keep pressing on. Antonelli's progress towards Leclerc is being hurt by floor damage.
Ocon has a train of Bearman, Lindblad, and Hulkenberg behind him.
...but Russell just about has enough by the end of the lap, the Mercedes' potency in a straightline is helping. Russell suggests "strat mode 7".
Verstappen might have an investigation coming his way for failing to follow race directors' instructions.
Russell preserves his lead, and just needs to keep extending that gap through the middle sector. But Verstappen is a little closer this time around through Turn 15 and 16, and might get the overtake mode...
Hadjar's got to try and keep Leclerc at bay, and potentially Antonelli as the Mercedes is looking rapid.
Perez is clinging onto Lawson - three more retirements and the Cadillac could get something here...
Antonelli hits overtake and tries to clear Hamilton, but the Ferrari just about stays ahead into Turn 1.
Russell seems to have enough gap over Verstappen again to evade an overtake push.
Antonelli then gets ahead of Hamilton at the end of the lap, with an easy pass down the straight.
Russell has just enough straight-line speed to keep Verstappen at bay this time around, but he needs to find a bigger gap in the middle sector. And this time, he seems to find it...
Piastri's off has pushed the Haas pair into seventh and eighth, with Lindblad and Hulkenberg into the top 10.
Lindblad is being looked at for that Lawson contact earlier.
Now, Verstappen has the overtake mode on Russell, but the Mercedes hangs on for this lap.
Piastri then has an almighty lock-up, and that's third for Hadjar! Piastri drops all the way to 14th place, as he just left it too late to hit the pedal.
"Offset forward for middle sector," Hadjar is told. "Okay, leave me alone now, thank you!"
Russell's going to have to pick his moment again, goes for it, and keeps his nose clear of Verstappen. Piastri defends from Hadjar into Turn 1.
Antonelli is on Hamilton's tail now, but sits tight for now. Perez moves past Lawson for 13th.
"I cannot believe it, so many points gone..." Gasly says, as he watched Colapinto careen into him.
Meanwhile, we're going to get back up and running here at the end of this lap.
Russell from Verstappen, Piastri from Hadjar, Leclerc from Hamilton, Ocon, Bearman, Lindblad, Hulkenberg, Sainz, Bortoleto, Perez, Lawson, and Bottas are your remaining drivers. In that order.
Antonelli, meanwhile, got tagged by Colapinto too - but the Mercedes seems to have got away without damage.
Colapinto peels into the pits and will call it a day.
Norris is in the wall there. Colapinto just locked up, went into Gasly, and Gasly then clouted Norris.
The Racing Bulls pair then came together, Lindblad hitting Lawson as he couldn't stop in time. "Love getting taken out by my team-mate. Pretty sick," Lawson says, with more than a hint of sarcasm.
Ocon then put a move on Bearman to grab eighth.
Here we go! Russell pulls the trigger, and Verstappen immediately puts a move on Piastri! The Alpines make contact with Norris!
Antonelli thus moves up to seventh, Ocon and Bearman are up to the points, as is Lindblad!
The safety car returns.
The safety car will come in at the end of this lap. All hands to the pump on tyre warm-up - and Russell's got to bolt as late as he can.
Piastri will have his hands full of Verstappen at this stage, as the Red Bull now has the soft compound.
Hadjar is told that Red Bull sees some gearbox vibrations, but the theory is it could simply be the car running slowly. He says that he feels it in Turn 2.
The lapped cars (Bottas) have been told to pass, so we should be going reasonably soon.
Tyre check after stops
Softs: Russell, Verstappen, Gasly, Antonelli, Norris, Colapinto, Lindblad, Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Perez, Sainz, Bottas
Mediums: Piastri, Hadjar, Leclerc, Hamilton, Bearman, Lawson, Ocon.
"If Max can't get the win, I'm going to need his help with Piastri," Hadjar says. So that's very much "back him up if you can".
The safety car has picked up Russell now, as Albon's car has been fished out of the barrier.
We might not need to red flag this, depending on how quickly the Tecpro barrier can be sorted - but if it is, the medium runners will want to switch back to softs.
Replay of Albon, just locks up at Turn 5 and carries too much speed through.
Lawson has come in too, so he's back into 12th.
Russell and Piastri are also going to stop. Both Red Bulls come in, although I might have left one out just in case it gets red flagged...
Leclerc and Hamilton also stop.
We have a safety car now. Gasly and Antonelli pit. Softs for both, and Norris is following suit. Bearman, Ocon, and Lindblad come in too, as does Bortoleto.
Lawson and Hulkenberg stay out.
Norris has a big lock-up at Turn 1, and he's lost places to Gasly and Antonelli. A costly moment there. He'll pit shortly.
Russell is 11.1s up the road now from Piastri, having a perfect afternoon...
...and Albon's in the wall! That's going to change everything.
Bortoleto gets a move done on Hulkenberg, who rather left his team-mate through. Meanwhile, Ocon and Albon swapped places briefly, but Albon is back into 13th.
Norris' gap over Gasly, just north of 2.5s, has been pretty static over the past few laps. Medium tyre runners are continuing to find it tough.
Hadjar tries to put a move on Verstappen again, but the Dutchman defends once more. They are losing a lot of time to Piastri now.
Gianpiero Lambiase has to take a stern tone with Verstappen, who's complaining about his tyres and presumably about the idea of potentially letting Hadjar through.
Russell did have a light scrape at Turn 15, but it was the tiniest bit. He's 10s clear of Piastri.
Ocon's on Albon's tail now, as the Williams has dropped out of Lawson's overtake range.
"I've got no front mate, I can't turn the car," Hamilton says.
"I nibbled the wall on the right hand side," Russell says. "It doesn't feel quite right," he adds, although the pressure are apparently okay.
He might want a stop soonish, just in case...
That's the closest Verstappen's been in a while, 0.4s behind at the close of Turn 3, but Piastri should stretch this out again.
Hadjar is told that he's on the best race tyre (ie. the soft), while Piastri's told that he can run deeper in the race. In short, anyone on the medium is not on the ideal compound...although Russell is making up for that.
Russell's lead over Piastri is 9.3s, as the McLaren continues to be the stopper in the Red Bull bottle...or can. Other beverages are available.
Antonelli clears Colapinto to take ninth, with Gasly 6.8s up the road.
Hadjar's getting a bit frustrated now - how do you ask Verstappen to move out of the way?
Antonelli is now within a second of Colapinto, and aiming to double his current points reward from this race.
"I have pace, just in case," Hadjar says. He's still within overtake reach of his team-mate.
Sainz is our first pitter of the day. After qualifying ninth, his grid penalty has cost him here. He comes out on the softs. Alonso also stops - but this looks more terminal.
