Azerbaijan Grand Prix: George Russell ‘comes through the other side’ after ‘really difficult period’

Victory looked comfortable for a while, as he pulled away in the lead from the first stint while Piastri held off Verstappen.

But two safety cars mid-race closed the field and left Verstappen right on Russell’s tail.

Russell couldn’t shake it off, but he continued to be impeccable. Even slowing for a yellow flag on the final lap caused the turbo to lose pressure and left it vulnerable in the race to the flag.

“It’s definitely the most dominant weekend of my career,” Russell said. “So it came at a really big moment. And also to achieve it on a circuit that requires so much commitment and confidence, I’m really proud of that, because it would have been very easy for me to lose faith this season.”

Mercedes lost its early season dominance over the summer, but the Bahrain/Malaysia race will see its first big improvement in some time.

“I’m really excited,” Russell said. “This is going to be a good step forward.

“Our car has performed exceptionally well on the low-drag circuits. We have a really efficient car, so here in Baku we have been exceptionally fast. But I think from next week we hope to take a big step towards the rest of the field. But nothing is certain until we see how it plays out in reality.”

And while Antonelli may only be a heavy favorite, so is the championship.

“There’s a lot less pressure on me than on him,” Russell said. “Yesterday was probably his first mistake this whole season in a real session, qualifying, race, and he still came back to P5 today.

“I didn’t really consider myself in this fight for a number of races, just because my performance wasn’t good enough.

“Now I feel like if the season had started today, or since summer break, you know, I definitely think I could have fought.

“Now I have a big deficit. That can change quickly. So I’m not chasing that. I’m racing to win every race, and what happens will be.”