2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Russell Wins by 0.196s

Formula 1 was back again this weekend, and on a very unusual schedule. I can’t remember many Grands Prix being held on a day other than Sunday, although, after looking back, I found that the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023 was also held on a Saturday. Anyway, the race was entertaining without being particularly outstanding. As usual, I enjoyed Friday’s qualifying session more than Saturday’s race.

All right, Goguma, start at the beginning. How was Friday?

Well, Friday’s qualifying session (it still feels strange to say that) brought a surprise when Antonelli made a mistake and hit one of the walls at this demanding circuit. He had already set a time in Q1, so he had to start from sixteenth place. The Italian does not make mistakes very often, and it is quite possible that Russell’s incredible pace throughout the weekend played a part. The Briton produced a stunning qualifying lap and took pole by eight tenths of a second. I haven’t seen a margin like that in years.

Behind him came Leclerc, getting more out of the Ferrari than it seemed to have. He was half a second quicker than his teammate Hamilton in the same car, which is no small achievement. Hadjar outqualified his teammate Verstappen, something you don’t see very often, although the Dutchman’s engine problems may help explain it. Even so, Hadjar’s performance was impressive.

Further back, the improvement at Alpine was worth noting: both cars made it into Q3. Carlos Sainz also put in a strong performance, finishing ninth in qualifying, although he received a deserved penalty for failing to respect yellow flags. At the back were the Aston Martins, with Fernando Alonso working miracles to put that heap of junk ahead of the Cadillacs. The situation at the team, and with Honda, is unbelievable. I know I say the same thing at every race, but they never stop surprising me for the wrong reasons.

Friday’s qualifying results

Come on, Goguma, let’s get to the main event. How was Saturday?

Well, although I like this circuit because its high speeds and close walls punish mistakes, the race was very quiet at first. Part of the blame goes to the tyres Pirelli brought: they were too hard and barely wore out. Many teams could probably have completed the race without stopping if they had wanted to.

Things stayed quiet for many laps, until Albon decided on lap 29 that enough was enough and put his car into the barriers. That brought out the safety car, and everyone took the opportunity to pit. Russell was leading, followed by Piastri’s McLaren and the two Red Bulls close together.

Safety car: the perfect time for things to happen.

And things certainly kicked off at the restart. After such a clean race up to that point, Franco Colapinto went too deep under braking at Turn 1, took out his teammate and damaged one of the McLarens. Remember, Alpine had been having a perfect race until then, with both cars in the points. An unforgivable mistake, but now it is time to regroup and move on.

That brought out another safety car. The second restart was calmer, but the race became more exciting from then on. Verstappen moved into second and started putting Russell under serious pressure. He was lapping at a tremendous pace and forcing the Mercedes driver to push hard. Verstappen even risked retiring when he brushed the wall. The final result says it all: Russell won by less than two tenths of a second. If the finish line had been a little farther away, Verstappen might have pulled off a miracle.

All right, but you’re forgetting the championship leader. Where did Antonelli finish?

If Russell drove like a champion, Antonelli did too. Despite his mistake, he showed how to limit the damage. True, he could not fight his way through the field and win as he did at Monza, but overtaking was much harder at this circuit. It would have been very easy to touch a wall and leave with zero points. In the end, he finished fifth. That might not sound like much, but considering how his weekend had gone, it allowed him to limit the damage. Well done to him.

And what about the rest of the field?

Carlos drove a good race and, after putting in the work, left Azerbaijan with a reward: one point. Despite the penalty, he had a genuinely good weekend. Credit to Haas too for getting both cars into the points.

On the other hand, the McLarens were disappointing. Norris had an accident, while Piastri struggled throughout the weekend. And Aston Martin are still waiting for Honda to do something about that engine. No matter how talented Alonso is, he cannot do much with it. Let’s hope Fernando has a better car next year, now that we know he has renewed his contract for 2027.

Race result

Drivers’ Championship standings

Constructors’ Championship standings

Did you watch the race? Did you enjoy it? Do you think Russell can come back and win the championship? Let me know in the comments.

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Photo: Pexels.