Baku, Sep 26 (IANS) George Russell survived a late challenge from former champion Max Verstappen to secure his third victory of the season in a dramatic Azerbaijan Grand Prix that saw six drivers, including McLaren’s Lando Norris, retire and fail to finish.
The Mercedes driver built on a strong start to control the first half, leaving Oscar Piastri to defend against the charging Red Bull pair of Verstappen and Isack Hadjar while Russell extended his lead.
An error from Williams’ Alex Albon shook up the race as the Safety Car was deployed and the Briton battled to hold on at the restart, but the action was halted for a second time when Franco Colapinto locked up, taking out his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly and Norris.
With the field neutralised again, Russell came under immense pressure from Verstappen on the final laps and ultimately crossed the line just one tenth ahead, denying the Dutchman what could’ve been his first win of the season.
Isack Hadjar was third to clinch a double podium for Red Bull, with Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli taking P4 and P5 – the Italian made the most of the chaos in front to improve from P16 to the points.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was a lonely sixth ahead of Arvid Lindblad, who beat Esteban Ocon to P7 over the line, Ollie Bearman and Carlos Sainz as Haas celebrated scoring for the first time since the Monaco Grand Prix.
Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg placed P11 after losing out to the leading Williams with two laps to go, while Liam Lawson settled for P12, the New Zealander left frustrated following contact with his Racing Bulls teammate.
With P13 belonging to Gabriel Bortoleto, Oscar Piastri wound up P14 despite running in the podium positions for the majority of the race. A lock-up dropped him outside of the points, and he led Cadillac’s Sergio Perez as the last of the finishers.
Valtteri Bottas drove into the barriers late on and was the final driver to DNF, joining Albon, Colapinto, Norris and Pierre Gasly. The Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll also failed to finish due to separate mechanical issues.
–IANS
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