George Russell won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the 15th race of the season in the Formula 1 World Championship, was held at the 6-kilometer Baku City Circuit in the capital Baku.

Mercedes pilot George Russell, who started from the first row in the race, which was held over 51 laps, retained his place at the start.

Aston Martin pilot Lance Stroll said goodbye to the race by pulling his car to a safe point after the warning from his team on the 9th lap. Fernando Alonso, the other pilot of the team, also got out of his car after coming to the pits on the 21st lap. Thus, Aston Martin could not complete the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with both of its drivers.

While Russell maintained his leadership in the first part of the race, Piastri competed in second and Verstappen in third.

On the 24th lap of the race, Russell continued his lead by increasing the gap between him and Piastri in second place to 9-10 seconds.

Lando Norris went off the track by locking his tires under braking at the end of the start-finish straight on the 30th lap. The McLaren pilot, who returned to the race by checking his car, fell to 9th place, being passed by Pierre Gasly and Antonelli.

Williams driver Alexander Albon crashed into the barriers on the 31st lap and retired from the race. After the damage to the barriers, the safety car took to the track. With the safety car activated, the pilots headed to the pits one after the other.

Verstappen passed Piastri and moved into second place. However, yellow flags were waved due to the accident involving four vehicles in the rear section. After the accident that forced Norris out of the race, the safety car took to the track once again.

Piastri, who made a mistake under Hadjar's pressure on the 40th lap, went off the track after the start straight and fell to 13th place. Hadjar rose to 3rd place.

Kimi Antonelli, the leader of the pilots' classification, who started the race from 16th place, rose up to 5th place.

RUSSELL ACHIEVED HIS 3RD VICTORY

Maintaining his leadership, Russell did not overtake Verstappen in the remaining part and saw the checkered flag in first place at the end of 51 laps and won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The British pilot achieved his 3rd victory of this season after the Australian and Austrian Grand Prix. Russell was accompanied by Red Bull pilots Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar on the podium.

The next race of the season in Formula 1 will be held in Bahrain on October 4.

HELD ON SATURDAY

While races in Formula 1 are held on Sundays, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was held on Saturday this year.

The calendar change was made due to the Martyrs' Memorial Day, which commemorates the Azerbaijani soldiers who lost their lives in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War on September 27 in the country.

For this reason, the entire weekend program of the organization was brought forward one day.

In addition, the Las Vegas Grand Prix has been held regularly on Saturday nights since it was included in the calendar as the official Formula 1 race in November 2023.

HADJAR RETURNED WITH THE Podium

Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar, who missed 3 races due to his ankle injury, returned to the track at the Azerbaijan GP. The French pilot finished the race in 3rd place and reached the podium.

On September 23, it was announced that Hadjar would continue at Red Bull in 2027.