Russell wins in Baku as Mercedes engines take record 252nd win
Mercedes is now the most successful power unit supplier in Formula 1 history. George Russell won Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix from pole position, giving Mercedes engines their 252nd victory and moving them past Ferrari, whose engines had held the record since 2004. Russell crossed the line 0.1 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.
The teams that won with Mercedes power
The tally counts every F1 win achieved with a given supplier's power unit, regardless of which team scored it.
Most of the Mercedes wins belong to the works team, but three customer teams also contributed. McLaren won 101 times with Mercedes engines. Brawn GP took eight wins in 2009, its only season before Mercedes bought the team. Racing Point won once, in 2020.
Only one win with a Maranello engine went to a team other than the Ferrari works team: Sebastian Vettel's victory for Toro Rosso at Monza in 2008.
How the race in Baku unfolded
The race ran over 51 laps. It was originally scheduled for 27 September but was moved one day earlier at the request of the promoter and the authorities because of Remembrance Day.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc started from second on the grid, but Oscar Piastri passed him at the start. Russell controlled the first half of the race and pulled away, while Piastri held off Verstappen and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar behind him.
Two neutralizations and a Turn 1 pileup
On lap 30, Williams driver Alex Albon made a mistake, and his crash brought out the safety car.
At the restart on lap 36, Franco Colapinto locked up into Turn 1 and hit his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly. Both cars went wide and collected Lando Norris's McLaren, and all three retired. Alpine had been running in the points at the time, with Gasly 7th and Colapinto 10th. In the same corner, Arvid Lindblad hit Liam Lawson and spun him. The stewards did not penalize Lindblad for that contact.
The collision triggered a second neutralization. Reports differ on its form: formula1.com says the race was stopped again, while autosport.com and motorsport.com describe a safety car period without a red flag.
Colapinto apologized to Gasly and Alpine. Norris believes Colapinto should receive a race ban, and Alpine said it would consider what action to take regarding him. Colapinto was given a five-place grid penalty for causing the collision.
The finish and the podium
Verstappen put Russell under heavy pressure in the closing phase, but the Mercedes driver held the lead to the flag. Verstappen missed out on what would have been his first win of the season. For Russell, it was a third victory this year and the eighth of his F1 career.
Hadjar finished third, reaching the podium in his first race back from injury.
The rest of the points finishers
Piastri ran wide at Turn 1 while defending against Hadjar, lost his chance of a podium and dropped to 14th. Leclerc moved up to fourth.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was a surprise elimination in qualifying and started from 16th on the grid. He finished fifth, ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton. Lindblad (Racing Bulls) was seventh, followed by Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, with Carlos Sainz (Williams) completing the top ten. Haas scored its first points since the Monaco Grand Prix, while McLaren left Baku without any.
Six drivers failed to finish: Colapinto, Gasly, Norris, Albon, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas crashed on the final lap and was classified 16th.
What it means for the championship
Russell gained 15 points on Antonelli, who still leads the drivers' championship by 66 points.
With 15 of the season's 23 races completed, 208 points remain available in the drivers' championship and 359 in the constructors' championship.