Verstappen almost snatches Baku win from Russell, named Driver of the Day

A dramatic finish in Baku

George Russell (Mercedes) won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the Baku City Circuit, leading from pole position all the way to the flag. But the spotlight fell on Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing), who started only eighth and crossed the line second, missing out on victory by the narrowest of margins — Speedweek.com reports a gap of 192 thousandths of a second, while Formula1.com states 0.196 seconds.

From eighth to second

Verstappen wasted no time, passing Lewis Hamilton on lap two to move into sixth, then overtaking Lando Norris at the same corner shortly after to rise from eighth to fifth. By lap five he had also gone past Charles Leclerc into fourth, leaving only his own teammate Isack Hadjar ahead of him among the podium places. Red Bull told Hadjar that "race time is priority," and Verstappen duly moved into third, setting off after Oscar Piastri, who managed to keep his McLaren ahead for some time.

Fighting for the win

When the race leaders pitted on lap 32, Verstappen switched to soft tyres, and after a chaotic restart on lap 34 he dived down the inside at Turn 1 in an attempt to pass Russell. A safety car intervention halted that attempt, but over the closing laps Verstappen stayed within a second of the leader, repeatedly using Overtake Mode. On the final lap, under yellow flags caused by a spin from Valtteri Bottas, Russell reportedly lost power as his turbo failed to spool up fully, according to Verstappen — allowing the Dutchman to close the gap dramatically, though the chequered flag came out just moments too soon.

Fan vote

In Formula1.com's official fan poll, Verstappen received 26.6% of the vote and was named Driver of the Day, ahead of Hadjar (15.1%), Antonelli (12.63%) and race winner Russell (12.39%). However, in a separate and much smaller reader poll run by RaceFans.net ("Driver of the Weekend"), with only 14 votes cast, the result was reversed — Russell took 71% and Verstappen just 21%.

The result marked Verstappen's 134th career podium and his seventh of the season, though he remains without a race win in 2026. He said the car had been difficult to handle on medium tyres early in the race, but praised the team's strong recovery drive after a qualifying session hampered by engine issues.