Baku Bedlam: Russell Holds Off Verstappen at the Flag as Colapinto Detonates His Own Team
While Russell and Verstappen fought for every tenth into the final corner, Franco Colapinto wrote the textbook on wrecking your own weekend with a single move.
The Baku street circuit loves drama, but even by its own standards this year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix went well beyond the norm. George Russell won it, beating Max Verstappen to the line by just 0.196 seconds, while behind them Franco Colapinto single-handedly wrecked an entire team with one botched braking zone.
Colapinto locks up and takes down two cars
On the first restart, Colapinto locked his brakes and speared into teammate Pierre Gasly right at the Turn 1 entry. The contact eliminated both Alpine cars outright — and for good measure also collected Lando Norris, turning a promising midfield battle into a completely written-off weekend. Colapinto was handed a five-place grid penalty for the next race.
Norris didn’t hold back afterwards, scathing about the standard of driving that caused the incident and calling for the FIA to consider race bans for that kind of negligence.
Piastri fumbles the restart, Hadjar capitalises
Oscar Piastri also contributed to the chaos, fumbling his own restart badly enough to let Isack Hadjar sail past him into third place.
Verstappen attacks to the final lap
Max Verstappen spent most of the race locked in a fight for the lead alongside Hadjar, and on the final lap, when Russell lifted off for a yellow flag, nearly caught him — crossing the line just 0.196 seconds behind the winner.
Result
- 1. George Russell (Mercedes)
- 2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 3. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
- Points: Esteban Ocon, Oliver Bearman (Haas), Carlos Sainz (Williams)
Based on reporting by RacingNews365 and ABC News.
