The 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix gave me everything I wanted from Baku: George Russell on fire, Max Verstappen hunting him down and a finish separated by only 0.196 seconds.
I asked George Russell to shine in Baku. Apparently, he took that personally.
Before the weekend, I said George had enough experience around my favourite circuit and needed to start putting pressure back on Kimi Antonelli. I even asked Mercedes to give him a strategy that would not require an official investigation from me afterwards.
For once, it seems they listened.
The signs appeared during qualifying on Friday when George took pole after beating Charles Leclerc by more than eight-tenths. Eight-tenths in Formula 1 is not a gap. It is a polite eviction notice.
While George produced one of his finest qualifying laps, Kimi crashed in Q1 and ended up 16th. After watching Kimi receive a generous supply of good fortune this season while George’s luck repeatedly ignored him, I admit that the sudden change in Azerbaijan made me smile slightly.
Sorry, Kimi. No hard feelings, but I have felt bad for George far too many times.
Max Verstappen qualified eighth after struggling with the Red Bull, while Carlos Sainz reached Q3 in ninth and gave us the first sign that the Williams upgrade might actually be doing something. A yellow-flag infringement later dropped Carlos to 14th on the grid, because apparently Williams cannot receive good news without Formula 1 adding a small administrative punishment.
Then came race day on Saturday.
George kept the lead at the start while Oscar Piastri moved into second and immediately found himself defending against both Red Bulls. As Max and Isack Hadjar moved closer, Piastri’s engineer encouraged him to keep them “out of range.”
A lovely idea but slightly difficult when the cars behind belong to Red Bull and one of the drivers is Sir Max Verstappen.
But what happened to Ferrari? Leclerc started second but lost the position to Piastri at the first corner before both Hadjar and Max found their way past him. Lewis Hamilton also lost out to Max early and eventually finished a lonely sixth.
Ferrari taking fourth and sixth is not a disaster, but it did not feel competitive enough. I genuinely expected them to fight closer to the front in Baku. Lewis also looked unusually quiet and disappointed afterwards. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but he did not look like somebody satisfied with another afternoon spent watching the podium from a distance.
Sir Max, meanwhile, began working his way forward from eighth. He passed Hamilton, Lando Norris, Leclerc and eventually Hadjar before joining the fight for second. My prediction was still alive, although it was already requiring considerable assistance from the F1 Gods.
George looked calm at the front.
Too calm.
Baku realised George was becoming comfortable and decided to reveal its true colours.
Before the chaos arrived, Lando was already having another painful afternoon. He initially moved into fourth but lost places to Hadjar and Max before locking up at Turn 5, allowing Hamilton to attack. Another high-speed lock-up sent him into the run-off area and dropped him behind Gasly and Kimi.
Alex Albon then locked up and crashed his Williams at Turn 6, bringing out the first Safety Car and removing the comfortable lead George had spent half the race building. My happiness for George and disappointment about the Williams upgrade arrived at exactly the same moment, which was emotionally inconvenient.
Red Bull completed a clean double pit stop, keeping Max and Isack in position. Isack had already sounded extremely confident over the radio. When Max began struggling with his tyres, Isack asked the team to “tell him to keep pushing.” Later, he said he would need Max’s help with Piastri.
This did not sound like a driver cautiously returning from a wrist injury. It sounded like somebody coordinating an attack.
At the restart, Max finally passed Piastri for second and placed himself directly behind George. However, before their fight could properly begin, Franco Colapinto locked up at Turn 1 and made contact with his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly, who could not avoid hitting Lando.
All three retired. Lando had struggled throughout the race, but that final incident was not his fault. He was simply in the wrong place when two Alpine cars began arranging an unexpected team meeting at Turn 1.
The second Safety Car gathered everyone together again, giving George another restart to survive and Max another opportunity to attack.
Isack remained calm in third and went on to complete a double podium for Red Bull in his first race back. Returning from injury at Baku, fighting near the front and finishing third is an extraordinary comeback.
Welcome back, Isack. That was brilliant, mate.
Piastri’s race travelled in the opposite direction. After spending most of the afternoon fighting for the podium, he locked up at Turn 1 following the second restart and had to spin the McLaren around before rejoining. He fell from third to 15th and eventually finished 14th.
Baku can spend 40 laps building your confidence and remove it within one braking zone.
Kimi took full advantage and recovered from 16th to finish fifth. Of course he did. Even after crashing in qualifying, he still escaped with valuable points.
He drove a strong recovery race, I can easily say, George’s luck finally arrived & Kimi’s never actually left.
During the closing laps, Max remained only a few tenths behind George. Then Valtteri Bottas crashed his Cadillac and caused a late yellow flag. George lifted, temporarily lost turbo power when he accelerated again and suddenly Max was arriving beside him on the final straight.
Cadillac may not have scored any points, but Bottas nearly decided who might win the entire race. George crossed the line just 0.196 seconds ahead.
One tenth.
That is not a comfortable victory. That is Max Verstappen breathing directly onto your rear wing while the finish line takes several years to arrive.
But George held on as he always does. He took pole, controlled the race, survived two Safety Car restarts, temporarily lost power on the final lap and still defended against the most aggressive man in Formula 1.
This was not simply luck handing George a trophy. He earned every part of it. Come on, you Mr. Saturday You finally did it.
Baku gave us two Safety Cars, seven retirements, Isack’s comeback podium, Kimi escaping another difficult weekend, Ferrari leaving me worried and Max chasing George all the way to the line.
This is why Baku remains my favourite circuit. It waits until everybody becomes comfortable and then begins throwing emotional furniture around the room.
George was on fire. Max nearly stole it. A2W Race Rating 9.5/10
I forgot to breathe.
aKi Malik
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