Russell holds off Verstappen to win by 0.1s in thrilling Azerbaijan GP finale

George Russell claims lights-to-flag victory for Mercedes; Russell held off Red Bull's Max Verstappen after big lead shrunk by two Safety Car periods; world championship leader Kimi Antonelli fights back from 16th to finish fifth as Russell reduces deficit to 66 points

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>George Russell held off Max Verstappen in a thrilling finale to claim victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by just a tenth of a second.

>Mercedes' Russell had been on course for a dominant victory before two Safety Cars wiped out the 11-second lead he had built and left him desperately defending Red Bull's Verstappen in the closing stages.

>The lights-to-flag triumph reduces Russell's deficit to his team-mate Kimi Antonelli at the top of the world championship to 66 points after the Italian fought back from 16th on the grid, following a qualifying crash, to finish fifth.

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>Isack Hadjar took third to seal Red Bull's first double-podium since the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, completing an impressive comeback after missing three races with a wrist injury.

>Charles Leclerc took fourth for Ferrari after dropping back from second in the early stages, while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished where he started in sixth after lacking pace throughout.

>Lando Norris was taken out of the race along with Pierre Gasly when the latter's Alpine team-mate Franco Colapinto crashed into them at the restart after the first Safety Car interruption, which had been caused by Williams' Alex Albon crashing out.

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>The result leaves Russell as the only realistic threat to Antonelli claiming the title, with third-placed Hamilton now 103 points back, and fourth-placed Norris 116 points off the lead with eight rounds remaining.

>Mercedes also took another step towards sealing a first constructors' title since 2021, moving 160 points clear of Ferrari at the top of the standings.

>That multi-car collision opened up points-scoring opportunities for others, with Arvid Lindblad taking seventh after overtaking Haas' Esteban Ocon on the run to chequered flag.

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>Oliver Bearman was just behind them to secure a double-points finish for Haas, while Carlos Sainz took the final point for Williams as he overcame a five-place grid penalty and losing time from pitting before the first Safety Car, unlike most of the field.

>Another dismal weekend for Aston Martin saw both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll fail to finish the race after suffering technical issues.

>1) George Russell, Mercedes

2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull

3) Isack Hadjar, Red Bull

4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

5) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

6) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

7) Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

8) Esteban Ocon, Haas

9) Oliver Bearman, Haas

10) Carlos Sainz, Williams

>Russell had been imperious as he took pole by the best part of a second on Friday, and backed up that performance by making a fine start to comfortably retain the lead, while Piastri got past Leclerc behind him.

>While it took Verstappen just seven laps to surge from eighth on the grid up to third, Piastri then provided a blocker that had enabled Russell to build an 11-second lead by the time Albon crashed into the barrier with the leaders on their 31st lap.

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>The field poured into the pits during the stoppage before a short-lived restart at the start of lap 36.

>Russell controlled the rolling restart well, but Verstappen got past Piastri before chaos ensued behind, with Colapinto locking up before sliding into Gasly, who was shunted into the path of Norris.

>That left Russell with the speedy Verstappen on his rear wing when the race restarted with 13 laps remaining.

>Another well-managed restart kept Russell in front, but he was unable to shake Verstappen, creating a tense finale.

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>Russell appeared to have seen off the threat as the final lap begun, but the stricken Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas caused him to slow under yellow flags and threw off his energy deployment for the remainder of the lap.

>That gave Verstappen an opportunity, and the Dutchman was very nearly able to claim his first victory of the season, as he closed to within 0.196s as the pair took the chequered flag.

>The margin was the smallest a race has been decided by since Michael Schumacher beat Rubens Barrichello by 0.011s as Ferrari stage-managed the finish of the 2022 United States Grand Prix.

>Russell said: "The first half of the race felt pretty plain-sailing, getting the gap. The Safety Car restart with Max behind I thought 'this is not going to be easy' and he drove incredibly at the end of the race.

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>"When the yellow flag came out [for Bottas crash] I lifted off the power and when I went back, I had no turbo, so then I had no power and Max almost got me at the line

>"That would have been a real shame but all in all an incredible weekend."

>It would have been extremely cruel for Russell to miss out on victory on what had been his most complete weekend of the season since the opening round in Australia back in March.

>While Russell still has an enormous task on his hands to catch Antonelli, especially given he will receive a grid penalty for taking a new engine at one of the remaining races, the result provides the Brit with a huge confidence boost after being outperformed by his team-mate for much of the season.

>The victory brought Russell back level with Antonelli on eight career wins after the Italian had moved ahead of him last time out in Madrid.

>"It's amazing to be back on the top step of the podium," Russell added. "I want to say a big thanks to the team for continuing to believe in me through the tough moments and helped me come through it. I'm really proud to have had this weekend."

>Formula 1 heads to Malaysia for the first time since 2017 as it hosts the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit - watch live coverage from Friday morning, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime