Mercedes’ George Russell managed to fend off an onslaught from Max Verstappen of Red Bull in a thrilling Azerbaijan Grand Prix that featured two safety car interventions towards the end of the race.
The Mercedes driver led the initial portion of the race before being pursued by Verstappen, who started from eighth on the grid but was struggling to catch Oscar Piastri of McLaren.
However, Russell found himself being chased by the four-time world champion due to the two successive safety cars.
Though Russell failed to distance himself from Verstappen, the latter was unable to close in sufficiently to attempt an overtake, per BBC Sport.
A problem with energy recovery meant that Russell was concerned about Verstappen overtaking him at the finish line, but he managed to win by less than 0.2 seconds.
With Russell winning the race while teammate Kimi Antonelli recovered to fifth from 16th, he reduces the lead of the Italian in the championship to 66 points.
“It’s amazing to be back on the top step of the podium. I do want to say a big thanks to my team because they’ve continued to believe in me through a tough moment, helped me come through it,” Russell said.
“I’m really proud to have had this weekend.”
Third on the grid, behind the winners, was Isack Hadjar of Red Bull, having put on a great show on track to finish on the podium in his first appearance in three races after breaking a wrist.
It looked like Russell would comfortably claim victory throughout the race as there were few noteworthy incidents early on in the race.
In third place on the starting grid, Piastri had managed to pass Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in order to take second place; however, he was not quick enough to catch Russell who managed to get ahead of him.
Piastri was now trying to hold off Hadjar, who had beaten Lando Norris from McLaren in the early stages of the race.
