George Russell wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix

George Russell finally broke through and won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix Saturday morning for his first win since June. Trailing behind him by only 0.2 seconds was Max Verstappen, followed by Isaak Hadjar.

The victory makes three straight podiums for Verstappen, who now only trails Lewis Hamilton by 36 points for third place in the drivers’ standings. Additionally, the P3 finish by Hadjar marks his second podium of the season.

Current drivers’ championship leader Kimi Antonelli crashed out of qualifying and started 16th. However, he salvaged the weekend, taking advantage of two safety cars and finished 5th. With eight races remaining, he still holds a commanding 66-point lead over Russell.

McLaren had a promising weekend end up in disaster. Oscar Piastri, who qualified third, spun out after a restart late in the race and dropped all the way to P14. Lando Norris qualified 5th and crashed out on lap 36 after Franco Colapinto sideswiped both him and teammate Pierre Gasly.

With the Azerbaijan Grand prix in the books, two more races remain in a series of back-to-back-to-back race weekends. Next up is the Bahrain Grand Prix, which was rescheduled and being held in Malaysia at the Sepang Circuit, followed by the Singapore Grand Prix.