The 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix of Formula 1 ended with a victory for George Russell, who converted pole position into a win on the streets of Baku.
The Mercedes driver was joined on the podium by Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, both representing Red Bull. Charles Leclerc completed the top positions by finishing fourth with Ferrari.
The race was marked by a large number of retirements and various incidents that changed the order of the competition.
Colapinto retired after colliding with Gasly
The day ended negatively for Franco Colapinto, who made his first major mistake of the season. The Argentine was in tenth place and had the chance to score points with Alpine, but was out of the race after hitting his teammate Pierre Gasly.
The incident occurred during the restart after the Safety Car, which was deployed following Alex Albon's accident. Colapinto attempted to advance on the inside, lost control of his Alpine, and ended up crashing into the Frenchman.
Gasly was in seventh position at the time of the incident, which meant Alpine lost the chance to score points with both of their cars. Both drivers were classified as retirements.
The accident also occurred in a race that had seven retirements, a circumstance that significantly altered the final classification.
Antonelli fought back and maintained the championship lead
Kimi Antonelli was another standout performer at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The championship leader had suffered an accident during Q1 and had to start the race from 16th place.
However, the Mercedes driver took advantage of the numerous retirements and managed to gain positions to finish fifth, behind Russell, Verstappen, Hadjar, and Leclerc.
With this result, Antonelli remains at the top of the 2026 Drivers' Championship.
2026 Azerbaijan GP Classification
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
