The Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend was nothing short of chaos – from a dramatic end to qualifying followed by a race that saw a shock first lap retirement, with Oscar Piastri only completing five corners before crashing.
Sunday would end with Max Verstappen coming away as race winner, but Mercedes driver George Russell was pleased to find himself in second place come the checkered flag.
Despite a low-scoring day for McLaren, Piastri and Lando Norris are still first and second in the championship – although the team were unable to clinch the Constructors Championship’ at Azerbaijan.
George Russell ‘happy’ to stand on the podium again
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 post-race, George Russell confessed that it was nice to finish in a top three position, with the Briton only having two podiums from the previous ten races before the Grand Prix at Azerbaijan.
“For us really happy to be back on the podium. It has been a bit of a rough weekend for me personally but the car was great.”
He continued:
“I was pretty glad when I saw the checkered flag, to be honest. Fortunate I felt much better today than I felt on Friday and Saturday. Looking forward to a bit of rest now but just happy with the result.”
Russell on the P2 finish
He also congratulated Carlos Sainz, who picked up Williams’ first podium of the season, and his own teammate Kimi Antonelli, who came across the line in a strong fourth place after struggling persistently over the past few months.
“Firstly, congrats to Carlos and Williams. An amazing result for them… Kimi in P4 as well, so happy with that.”
Russell on Sainz and Antonelli
Lastly, Russell admitted that the podium has helped with Mercedes’ ambitions for 2025, with Mercedes now on 290 points in the Constructors Championship compared to Ferrari’s 283 – especially vital seeing as the Ferraris finished a disappointing eighth and ninth.
“For us, as a team trying to beat Ferrari in the constructors’, [the result] was a good step towards that.”
Russell now sits on 212 points for the season, in fourth place – and 43 points behind third-placed Max Verstappen, who picked up a crucial 25 points thanks to his race win.
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JUDE SHORT
After graduating from the University of Essex in 2024, Jude spent time as both a writer for Breaking the Lines and NBA Editor for VAVEL USA, before publishing work for GRV Media, GPFans, and startup site The Deck. Jude had a brief stint back with VAVEL in the summer of 2025, before joining Grand Prix on SI in September of that year.
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