At the Baku City Circuit, the words Russell spoke after qualifying became reality: the Mercedes driver had already predicted on Friday that, despite starting eighth, Verstappen would pose the biggest threat for victory, and that proved to be the case in a thrilling finale around the streets of Baku.
Verstappen fell just 0.196 seconds short of his first victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the line, although he stressed afterwards that the actual gap was slightly larger than that.
“Of course, it looked close on the line, but I think that was more because George suffered from a little bit of boost lag in Turn 15 with the yellow flag”, Verstappen said.
“So if you look at the last stint, it was always one second, so that’s probably also where we would have finished.”
It is a theory that Russell himself also confirms. After lifting off for Valtteri Bottas’ crash, the Mercedes power unit did not immediately deliver the acceleration he was expecting.
“When the yellow flag came out, I lifted off the power and when I went back on, I had no turbo, so then I had no power”, the Mercedes driver explained. “Max almost got me at the line. That would have been a real shame, but all in all, it’s been an incredible weekend.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Alex Pantling / LAT Images via Getty Images
Verstappen also believes the outcome of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix would have been the same had he started from the front row.
On Friday, the four-time world champion concluded that Red Bull had “done a great job messing up” its best chance of a victory this year with the engine problem, but 24 hours later Verstappen believes the closing stages of the race would have played out in more or less the same way.
“I mean, that’s what happened yesterday. You have a problem and that means that you have to start from P8. But I think even if I started second, I think with the pace of George, it would have been very hard to pass”, the Dutchman admitted.
“So maybe I could have followed him a bit better in that first stint, of course. But then you box, you’re second, and then we would probably have done the same race, just pushing each other along.”
Verstappen able to enjoy F1 for one of the first times in 2026
Verstappen does, however, say that he enjoyed the closing stages in Baku, which, given all the shortcomings of the technical regulations, was one of the first times he had done so all year.
“I have to say that those last laps were very enjoyable because there was barely any deg, really. We were just pushing to the end and the gap was always, like, one second or 1.1. That was nice.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images
Verstappen also took risks in that respect, risks he perhaps would not have taken for any result other than a potential race win. He knew Red Bull – especially with overtake mode – had an impressive amount of top speed, while Mercedes was faster in the twisty section around Baku’s old town.
To still give himself a chance on the longest straight of the F1 calendar and at least close the gap again on every lap, Verstappen tried to ‘open up’ the final few corners as much as possible.
“That last stint was fun. I kissed a few walls as well, but that was just to leave my mark here in Baku!”, Verstappen smiled.
“So, yeah, it’s always very challenging around here, qualifying and now at the end of the race as well, just pushing flat out. That comes with risk, of course, being close to certain walls on the inside and the outside, but it was cool.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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