Max Verstappen came within 0.196 seconds of claiming his first victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, finishing second to Mercedes driver George Russell after recovering from eighth on the grid across 51 laps.
Verstappen, a four-time World Champion, was left deep in the field following a troubled qualifying session but worked his way methodically through the pack, eventually demoting Oscar Piastri’s McLaren for second place at the first of two Safety Car restarts before setting his sights on race leader Russell.
“Starting in P8 I knew it wasn’t going to be that straightforward but we worked our way quite nicely up into the top three but that first stint was very tricky,” Verstappen said. “That medium tyre was just not very good, not having the grip that I think the soft tyres had so was just trying to survive on that stint to try and stay with the guys on the soft.”
The Safety Car periods proved pivotal, allowing Verstappen to switch to the soft compound tyre alongside Russell. Once on the softs, the two drivers pulled clear of the rest of the field. “Once we were on that soft tyre, it felt a lot better, just miles faster,” Verstappen said. “That also showed once George and I were on the soft, we were pulling away quite a lot over everyone else.”
In the closing laps, Verstappen maintained a gap of roughly one second to Russell down Baku’s long main straight, exploiting Red Bull’s straight-line speed. A late yellow flag at Turn 15, triggered by a crash involving Valtteri Bottas, gave Verstappen an additional slipstream opportunity on the final run to the line. He glanced the wall at the entry to Turn 16 multiple times in his pursuit.
“I was trying everything that I have available,” Verstappen said. “Of course on the last lap because there was a yellow, I think George picked up a bit of boost lag, so he didn’t pull out of Turn 15 and that gave me a little bit more of an opportunity and that’s why it was so close to the line.”
Despite falling short, Verstappen earned recognition from fans, winning the Driver of the Day vote for the sixth time in 2026 with 26.6 percent of the ballot. Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar finished second in the fan vote with 15.1 percent, ahead of Kimi Antonelli at 12.6 percent and Russell at 12.4 percent. Verstappen remains without a race win in the 2026 season.