Russell celebrates "One of the best weekends of his career"

George Russell's long-awaited breakthrough becomes reality in Baku!

The Brit celebrates his first race win in three months at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix; he last triumphed in Spielberg. The 28-year-old showcased outstanding form throughout the entire weekend. He celebrates a wire-to-wire victory for the first time in his career.

To the race report >>>

Thrilling Finish "Was Fun"

"I am absolutely proud to have delivered a weekend like this," says the Grand Prix winner after the race. "It was one of the best weekends of my career."

Especially in the first half of the race, Russell had the competition under control. However, Alex Albon's accident and the subsequent Safety Car almost disrupted the race order again: "When the Safety Car came out, I was a bit annoyed. I had built up a good gap by then," the race winner concluded.

Towards the end of the race, it almost became tight again in the duel with rival Max Verstappen. Russell is pleased that the battle unfolded in this way: "Max really put in great pace then, we pulled away from everyone very quickly after the restart, but that was fun."

Bottas Made Mercedes Nervous Again

Mercedes Deputy Team Principal and Head of Communications, Bradley Lord, is full of praise for his protégé: "An incredible performance from George. The slightest mistake could have cost him the deserved victory, but he made no mistakes."

The fact that it got tight again on the last lap was due to Bottas' crash. Lord believes that in the final sector, technology almost foiled Russell's plans: "He lost boost under double yellow. There was a brief moment of fear. Fortunately, he had enough horsepower out of the corner and was able to win by just under two tenths."

"Damage Limitation at its Finest"

While George Russell only had the Safety Car ahead of him for the entire race, World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli had to carve his way through the entire field. Having started the race from 16th place, the Italian did not manage a comeback as significant as he did in Monza.

Despite this, the 20-year-old can still live with the final result: "Today was one of those days where you have to be satisfied with fifth place."

Nevertheless, the Italian does not shy away from self-criticism and expects an improvement from himself: "This was my worst weekend so far. Next weekend I have to make sure I'm back to my normal level. I just have to put this behind me and make sure I'm back to 100 percent and that something like this never happens again."

Antonelli receives praise from Bradley Lord: "He basically has a great mentality. He even saw the accident coming with Colapinto, Gasly, Norris and could have very easily been involved. He simply had a good overview today. So P5 for him is damage limitation at its finest."

Hadjar Can Keep Up With Verstappen

With two cars on the podium, Red Bull Racing can also feel like a winner. Max Verstappen missed out on victory by less than two tenths.

For Team Principal Laurent Meckies, the development is heading in the right direction: "You can't get much closer than that. The most important thing is that we had enough pace in the car to be the fastest, or just a tenth behind. To have both cars on the podium is already a clear sign of progress. Max and Isack both had a great weekend."

Hadjar received special praise, having celebrated his comeback after a hand injury:

"Before his accident, we said Isack was constantly getting better every time he went out," he stated. "Then he had to take such a long break. Now, this weekend, he has shown again that he is even stronger than before. With his race pace, he could keep up with Max, one of the fastest. That is very promising for the future."