George Russell finally ended his Formula 1 victory drought by winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by just 0.196s over Max Verstappen, in a race punctuated by two safety cars for crashes.
For Russell, this was his first win since the Austrian GP in late June. He executed a perfect race as leader on a street circuit with a long straight: a clean start, immediately clearing the one-second overtake window, and extending his lead to 12 seconds before the first pit stops. His only moment of concern was "nibbling" the wall at the exit of Turn 15 on lap 25 of 51, but he otherwise ran untroubled until Alex Albon crashed at Turn 4 on lap 31, erasing his advantage.
The first safety car benefitted Russell's teammate, Kimi Antonelli. The championship leader started 16th and actually lost a spot at the start. It took him 17 laps to pass seven cars and reach the points. While not as rapid as his comeback win at Monza from 19th, this was risk-averse and steadier, likely with the championship lead in mind. He caught and passed Franco Colapinto after erasing a nearly four-second gap, then was gifted eighth when Lando Norris's disappointing race continued with a lock-up and straight-on at Turn 1.
At the safety car, Antonelli was eighth, 35s behind Russell, but the safety car bunched the field and allowed him to switch to the favoured soft tyre. He immediately made up a place on the restart as a massive melee broke out at Turn 1. A huge lock-up from Colapinto smashed him into Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly, who had been seventh on the restart, and also took out Norris, while Liam Lawson was spun in the concertina effect behind by Arvid Lindblad. "I love getting taken out by my team-mate," said a sarcastic Lawson, while Alpine lost a double-points finish in the chaos - much to Gasly's displeasure and Colapinto's apologies.
In the highest-pressure scenario of having Verstappen behind, Russell absolutely nailed the restart on lap 39. Verstappen remained in overtake mode range until three laps later, and then set the fastest lap of the race to close back in - refusing to accept defeat. All the way until two laps to go, Verstappen stayed within range and subjected Russell to pressure. Russell finally built a 1.4s gap, but then Verstappen closed back in on the run to the finish line on the final lap once both had cleared the scene of Valtteri Bottas's crashed Cadillac. But Russell was just able to hold on for his first win since the Austria GP.
"After the double-yellow I had no boost, had no power," said Russell after the race. Verstappen charged through the field from his eighth-place starting spot, and despite some bickering with his engineer over the mediums and intense early pressure from Isack Hadjar, drove a fine race.
This result tightens the championship battle: Antonelli still leads the standings, but Russell and Verstappen are closing in. With a solid performance on a street circuit, Russell proved he remains a serious threat for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, the Turn 1 incident was a reminder of how brutal racing in Baku can be.
Baca Juga
Franco Colapinto minta maaf setelah menabrak Pierre Gasly dan Lando Norris di F1 Azerbaijan. Insiden ini merugikan Alpine dan Norris dalam perebutan poin.
Franco Colapinto menyebabkan kecelakaan beruntun di Tikungan 1 Baku, membuat Lando Norris murka dan menuntut FIA menjatuhkan sanksi skorsing.
Ferrari tanpa podium dalam 5 balapan, Vasseur tetap optimis karena lebih banyak poin dari McLaren. Simak analisis lengkapnya di sini.
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