Arabic version: فوز راسل يقلص صدارة أنتونيللي في البطولة

According to BBC News, George Russell said he had come through the other side of a “real tough period” after winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for Mercedes.

Russell held off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in one of Formula 1’s closest finishes to claim his third victory of the 2026 season, and his first since the end of June, seven races earlier. He described the result as the most dominant weekend of his career.

Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli finished fifth after starting 16th, having made a qualifying mistake. Antonelli called it his worst weekend of the year in terms of performance and said he had been focused on limiting the damage.

The result reduced Russell’s gap to championship leader Antonelli from 81 points to 66, with seven or eight races remaining. Antonelli has won eight times this season, while Russell said he would focus on his own performances rather than the title fight.

Russell said he and his engineers had worked to adapt his driving style to Mercedes’ new car after struggling for comfort earlier in the year. He has started from the front row in three of the four races since the summer break and taken three podiums in that span.

Mercedes are set to bring their first major upgrade for some time to the Bahrain/Malaysia race. Russell said the team hoped to make a bigger step forward, while stressing that its effect would only become clear on track.