BAKU, Azerbaijan: George Russell closed the gap to championship-leading Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli at the top of the Formula One standings after fending off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to complete a lights-to-flag win in Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the Italian fifth.
Russell took the flag just 0.196 seconds ahead of the flying Dutchman, who had started eighth but crossed the line nearly side-by-side with his Mercedes rival, after two safety car phases turned a Saturday cruise into a fight for survival for the Briton.
Frenchman Isack Hadjar completed a double podium for Red Bull, repaying the team’s decision to give him a contract extension with third on his return to racing action.
"It’s amazing to be back on the top step of the podium,” said Russell, after closing the gap to Antonelli from 81 to 66 points in the overall standings with 15 races completed.
"Every race since the (summer) break I have gone from strength to strength and I feel more like myself again.”
RUSSELL'S FIRST WIN SINCE JUNE
Antonelli had started 16th after a rare error saw him crash out of Friday’s qualifying.
His drive on Saturday was less like his Monza charge — where he went from 19th to first — and more a slow-burn recovery.
Saturday’s win was the eighth of Russell’s career, his third of the season and first since the Austrian Grand Prix in June.
It capped a dominant weekend for the Briton and had seemed a mere formality, with the 28-year-old leading off the line and opening up a comfortable lead ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Verstappen and Hadjar.
But all that changed on the 31st of the race’s 51 laps when a crash for Williams racer Alex Albon brought out the safety car.
Russell’s 11-second lead evaporated as the safety car bunched up the field.
Verstappen snatched second from Piastri into the first corner as the action resumed, with Russell unchallenged.
But the race was neutralised almost instantly by another safety car when Argentine Franco Colapinto locked up and ploughed into Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly, who in turn collected McLaren’s reigning champion Lando Norris.
Colapinto, who was given a 10-second time penalty, continued but the contact put both Gasly and Norris out of the race.
The fuming Briton called for the 23-year-old Colapinto to be banned.
Russell had Verstappen right on his tail at the second restart.
The Mercedes driver kept the lead but was unable to shake off the chasing Red Bull, with the pair trading fastest laps.
It looked like the Dutchman, brushing the barriers as he hunted down his first win of the season, might just snatch victory on the final dash to the line but the Briton doggedly clung on.
"We had a good race, a tricky first stint on the mediums (tyres) but we got a good restart,” said Verstappen.
"Then the final lap George lost boost and I got close, but it was not enough.”
Behind them, Hadjar inherited third when Piastri locked up and took to the run-off area.
The Australian, who had started third, dropped to 14th compounding a miserable day for McLaren.
"It has been a very long six weeks since I injured myself,” said Hadjar, who missed the last three races with a wrist injury.
"It was the right time to come back, I felt strong, I took it step by step to gain the confidence,” added the 21-year-old who was also on the podium in Monaco.
Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari. His seven-time world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton was sixth.
Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad was seventh while Esteban Ocon took eighth ahead of teammate Oliver Bearman in a double points finish for Haas.
Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10 for Williams. — Reuters
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