A pole-to-flag victory in the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix provided further evidence that Mercedes is starting to unlock the best version of George Russell – but is it too little, too late?
The 28-year-old took his eighth grand prix victory and his first career grand slam in Baku, by leading every lap from pole and setting the fastest lap along the way.
It means he’s crept closer to championship-leading team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who started from 16th on the grid after a qualifying crash but managed to recover to fifth on Saturday.
So Russell’s deficit has gone from 81 to 66 points, but with only eight rounds remaining and Antonelli still in fine form, there’s no doubt that Russell remains a huge outsider for the title.
That’s the consequence of a disappointing first half of 2026 – Russell took two wins pre-summer break to Antonelli’s six – but now the improvements made since are starting to pay off.
“I didn’t really consider myself in this fight for a number of races, purely because my performance wasn’t strong enough,” Russell said candidly.
“Now I feel like if the season had started today, or since the summer break, I feel very much I would have been able to fight.”
George Russell, Mercedes, Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Alex Pantling / LAT Images via Getty Images
That doesn’t change his approach though and the best thing he can do is take it race by race, starting with this weekend’s one-off return to Malaysia.
“Now I’ve got this big deficit,” added Russell, who returned from the summer break 59 points behind Antonelli.
“It can change quickly. So, I’m not chasing that. I’m chasing to win every race, and what will be, will be.”
What’s counting for Antonelli is how he bounced back during a Baku weekend that threatened to spiral out of control, falling behind on track time after encountering issues in FP1.
But while the Italian’s unforced error in Q1 left him firmly on the back foot, he produced a mature drive to limit that damage, rather than trying to overcompensate like McLaren’s Oscar Piastri did in a similar situation 12 months ago, which led to a lap one crash.
Instead, Antonelli patiently picked off midfielders before some help from a double safety car period netted the 20-year-old fifth.
“There’s much less pressure on me than there is on him,” Russell acknowledged. “He’s had an incredibly flawless season. [Qualifying] was probably his first mistake of this whole season in a proper session, and he still came home in P5.”
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