ROUND

15

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

2026-09-26·51 laps

George Russell converted a dominant pole position — his fifth of the season and the biggest margin of any qualifying this year — into a hard-fought win at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, holding off a late charge from Max Verstappen to take the flag by just 0.196 seconds. Isack Hadjar, returning after missing three races with a wrist injury, backed up his Red Bull team-mate with a strong third place, giving the team a first double podium since 2024. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli endured a torrid qualifying, crashing into the Turn 1 wall in Q1 and starting 16th, but recovered to fifth to limit the damage to his title lead. The race was twice interrupted by Safety Cars — first for Alexander Albon's solo crash at Turn 5, then for a restart-lap pileup at Turn 1 in which Franco Colapinto collected both Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris, ending all three of their races and prompting a furious Norris to call for a race ban for the Argentine. Gabriel Bortoleto's post-race 10-second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags dropped him from 13th to 15th, while a separate investigation into Hadjar's practice-start procedure ended in a warning that left his podium intact. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both retired from mechanical issues, the latter with a suspected water pressure problem after just seven laps.

Race Winner

George Russell

Mercedes

Fastest Lap

1:44.916

George Russell

Conditions

☀ Dry

Circuit Profile

Baku City Circuit

Lap length

6.003 km

Race distance

51 laps · 306.2 km

Tyre allocation

H C3 · M C4 · S C5

Pit-lane loss (model)

≈ 22 s

Tyre degradation

Low

Overtaking

Easier

Pit-lane loss, degradation and overtaking are PITWALL simulator inputs for this circuit, not official figures.

Baku City Circuit circuit guide →Run this circuit in the simulator →

Qualifying

POS	Driver	Q1	Q2	Q3	Grid
1	George Russell	1:43.615	1:43.462	1:42.526	1
2	Charles Leclerc	1:44.360	1:43.780	1:43.363	2
3	Oscar Piastri	1:45.014	1:43.814	1:43.364	3
4	Isack Hadjar	1:44.161	1:43.880	1:43.500	4
5	Lando Norris	1:44.571	1:44.020	1:43.672	5
6	Lewis Hamilton	1:44.260	1:44.037	1:43.858	6
7	Pierre Gasly	1:44.489	1:44.106	1:44.047	7
8	Max Verstappen	1:44.041	1:43.706	1:44.081	8
9	Carlos Sainz	1:45.104	1:44.629	1:44.566	14(+5 Penalty)
10	Franco Colapinto	1:45.106	1:44.683	1:44.963	9
11	Oliver Bearman	1:45.228	1:44.775	—	10
12	Liam Lawson	1:45.535	1:44.860	—	11
13	Alexander Albon	1:45.031	1:45.001	—	12
14	Esteban Ocon	1:45.039	1:45.016	—	13
15	Arvid Lindblad	1:45.381	1:45.106	—	15
16	Kimi Antonelli	1:45.504	—	—	16
17	Gabriel Bortoleto	1:45.799	—	—	17
18	Nico Hulkenberg	1:45.920	—	—	18
19	Fernando Alonso	1:46.593	—	—	21(+30 Penalty)
20	Sergio Perez	1:46.658	—	—	20(+3 Penalty)
21	Lance Stroll	1:47.337	—	—	22(+20 Penalty)
22	Valtteri Bottas	1:48.290	—	—	19

Grid to Finish

Places gained or lost between the starting grid (after penalties) and the flag, for 16 of 16 classified drivers.

Biggest gains

Kimi AntonelliP16 → P5+11

Arvid LindbladP15 → P7+8

Nico HulkenbergP18 → P11+7

Biggest losses

Oscar PiastriP3 → P13-10

Charles LeclercP2 → P4-2

Liam LawsonP11 → P12-1

Race Timeline

🚦LAP 1Lights out — 51 laps scheduled

LAP 1Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who crashed into the Turn 1 wall in Q1 and started 16th, was already up to 14th on lap 6, working his way past Hulkenberg, Sainz and Lindblad.

🔧LAP 20First pit stop of the race: Carlos Sainz switches to Soft

🚗LAP 30Alexander Albon locks up and crashes hard into the Turn 5 barriers, bringing out the race's first Safety Car.

🏆LAP 31Race winner George Russell makes stop 1, fitting Soft

LAP 36On the Safety Car restart, Franco Colapinto locks up massively into Turn 1 and collects both Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris — all three retire, triggering a second Safety Car. Norris publicly called for a race ban for Colapinto afterward.

🔧LAP 36Last pit stop of the race: Liam Lawson switches to Soft

LAP 51George Russell holds off a late charge from Max Verstappen to win by just 0.196 seconds — one of the closest finishes of the season — for his third victory of 2026. Isack Hadjar, back from a wrist injury that kept him out for three races, completes a Red Bull front-row-to-podium double in third.

LAP 51Gabriel Bortoleto is handed a 10-second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags, dropping him from 13th on the road to 15th. A stewards' investigation into Hadjar for a practice-start procedural breach ends in a warning, leaving his podium untouched.

🏁LAP 51Chequered flag — George Russell wins

Tyre Strategy

Every stint for the 16 classified drivers with recorded pit data (16 classified in total). Bar lengths are to scale with the 51-lap race distance.

P1George Russell

M 31

S 20

P2Max Verstappen

M 31

S 20

P3Isack Hadjar

S 31

M 20

P4Charles Leclerc

S 31

M 20

P5Kimi Antonelli

M 30

S 21

P6Lewis Hamilton

S 31

M 20

P7Arvid Lindblad

M 30

S 21

P8Esteban Ocon

S 30

M 21

P9Oliver Bearman

S 30

M 21

P10Carlos Sainz

M 20

S 10

S 21

P11Nico Hulkenberg

M 32

S 19

P12Liam Lawson

S 31

M

S 15

P13Oscar Piastri

S 31

M 20

P14Sergio Perez

M 30

S 21

P15Gabriel Bortoleto

M 30

S 21

P16Valtteri Bottas

M 26

S 25

LAP 1LAP 26LAP 51

One-stop

14

Two-stop

2

Winner's strategy: Medium → Soft

Longest stint: Nico Hulkenberg, 32 laps on Medium

Compound sequences used

Medium → Soft

8 driver(s) · best result P1

Soft → Medium

6 driver(s) · best result P3

Medium → Soft → Soft

1 driver(s) · best result P10

Soft → Medium → Soft

1 driver(s) · best result P12

Pit Stops & Neutralisations

First stops came between lap 20 and lap 32, with a median of lap 31.

Stops made within 2 laps of a Safety Car or VSC being called. The race data records when a neutralisation started, not when it ended.

🚗 Safety Car · lap 30

George Russell — lap 31, stop 1, onto Soft
Max Verstappen — lap 31, stop 1, onto Soft
Isack Hadjar — lap 31, stop 1, onto Medium
Charles Leclerc — lap 31, stop 1, onto Medium
Kimi Antonelli — lap 30, stop 1, onto Soft
Lewis Hamilton — lap 31, stop 1, onto Medium
Arvid Lindblad — lap 30, stop 1, onto Soft
Esteban Ocon — lap 30, stop 1, onto Medium
Oliver Bearman — lap 30, stop 1, onto Medium
Carlos Sainz — lap 30, stop 2, onto Soft
Nico Hulkenberg — lap 32, stop 1, onto Soft
Liam Lawson — lap 31, stop 1, onto Medium
Oscar Piastri — lap 31, stop 1, onto Medium
Sergio Perez — lap 30, stop 1, onto Soft
Gabriel Bortoleto — lap 30, stop 1, onto Soft
Franco Colapinto — lap 30, stop 1, onto Soft
Pierre Gasly — lap 30, stop 1, onto Soft
Lando Norris — lap 30, stop 1, onto Soft

Actual vs PITWALL Simulation

PITWALL model output · not official data

PITWALL replayed this race 40 times from the real starting grid, with all 16 finishers on the strategies they actually used. It then kept every rival's strategy fixed and tested alternative strategies for the winner, George Russell.

Safety Car called on lap 30

Strategy	Stops	Avg finish	Win	Race time vs actual
ActualMSL31	1	P12.3	0%	—
MSL27	1	P1.0	100%	−17.6 s
HSL25	1	P1.1	95%	−17.4 s
SML29	1	P1.0	98%	−16.5 s
MSL17SL34	2	P14.1	0%	+3.9 s
SML20SL34	2	P14.1	0%	+4.0 s
SHL20SL34	2	P14.2	0%	+4.3 s

In PITWALL's model, Medium → Soft would have been 17.6 s quicker than the strategy George Russell actually used.

Model check: with everyone on their real strategy, the simulated finishing positions were on average 5.7 places away from the real result, and George Russell won 0% of the simulated races.

Retired cars are left out of the replay. Safety Car and VSC periods use the simulator's default length, because the race data records only when they were called. Model replay-2, computed 2026-10-23. How the simulator works and its limits →

Why They Lost

Strategy and race factors that shaped the result for drivers who finished behind George Russell.

P10Carlos SainzWilliams

▸Made 2 stops to the winner's 1, conceding track position on the extra in-lap and out-lap.
▸Pitted 11 laps earlier than George Russell (lap 20 vs 31), exposing the next stint to more wear.

P12Liam LawsonRacing Bulls

▸Made 2 stops to the winner's 1, conceding track position on the extra in-lap and out-lap.

P13Oscar PiastriMcLaren

▸Started P3 and finished 10 places lower.

P16Valtteri BottasCadillac

▸Pitted 5 laps earlier than George Russell (lap 26 vs 31), exposing the next stint to more wear.

DNFFranco ColapintoAlpine

▸Retired before the finish (DNF).

DNFPierre GaslyAlpine

▸Retired before the finish (DNF).

Strategy Breakdown

Replay any strategy in the PITWALL simulator →

POS	Driver	Strategy	Time	Gap
1	George Russell Mercedes	M→SL31	1:38:00.000	Leader	▶ Simulate
2	Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing	M→SL31	1:38:00.196	+0.196	▶ Simulate
3	Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing	S→ML31	1:38:10.704	+10.704	▶ Simulate
4	Charles Leclerc Ferrari	S→ML31	1:38:14.136	+14.136	▶ Simulate
5	Kimi Antonelli Mercedes	M→SL30	1:38:15.512	+15.512	▶ Simulate
6	Lewis Hamilton Ferrari	S→ML31	1:38:22.382	+22.382	▶ Simulate
7	Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls	M→SL30	1:38:31.159	+31.159	▶ Simulate
8	Esteban Ocon Haas	S→ML30	1:38:31.189	+31.189	▶ Simulate
9	Oliver Bearman Haas	S→ML30	1:38:31.929	+31.929	▶ Simulate
10	Carlos Sainz Williams	M→SL20→SL30	1:38:32.416	+32.416	▶ Simulate
11	Nico Hulkenberg Audi	M→SL32	1:38:33.231	+33.231	▶ Simulate
12	Liam Lawson Racing Bulls	S→ML31→SL36	1:38:34.013	+34.013	▶ Simulate
13	Oscar Piastri McLaren	S→ML31	1:38:36.401	+36.401	▶ Simulate
14	Sergio Perez Cadillac	M→SL30	1:38:41.400	+41.400	▶ Simulate
15	Gabriel Bortoleto Audi	M→SL30	1:38:44.230	+44.230 (incl. 10s penalty)	▶ Simulate
16	Valtteri Bottas Cadillac	M→SL26	1:39:15.000	+1 Lap	▶ Simulate
17	Franco Colapinto Alpine	M→SL30	—	DNF	—
18	Pierre Gasly Alpine	M→SL30	—	DNF	—
19	Lando Norris McLaren	M→SL30	—	DNF	—
20	Alexander Albon Williams	S	—	DNF	—
21	Fernando Alonso Aston Martin	S	—	DNF	—
22	Lance Stroll Aston Martin	S	—	DNF	—