F1 Today | Russell beats Verstappen to Baku win, Hamilton responds to Horner rumours

George Russell took a lights to flag victory at the Azerbaijan GP after his monster pole position in qualifying, beating Max Verstappen by the smallest race-winning margin in 24 years after a chaotic race featuring several incidents and two Safety Car periods.

After a comfortable first half to the race, Russell came under pressure from Verstappen in the closing stages after two quick safety cars. The first was brought out after Alex Albon crashed out by himself, before Franco Colapinto wiped out teammate Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris at the restart.

After some late energy deployment drama, Russell only beat Verstappen to win by less than two tenths of a second, as he closed the gap to his teammate Kimi Antonelli to 66 points, after the Italian finished fifth, behind Verstappen's teammate Isack Hadjar and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Oscar Piastri was on track for third place before the Australian made a major mistake while defending against Hadjar, rejoining the track at the back of the field, meaning McLaren did not score a single point.

Lewis Hamilton provided a one-word answer when asked whether he believes Frederic Vasseur is still the right man to lead Ferrari amid rumours linking Christian Horner to the team.

The former Red Bull CEO and team principal in an interview sent clear messages of affection towards Ferrari. Horner admitted that a potential return to Formula 1 would need to be about more than simply going back to the pit wall, with the prospect of joining a team capable of challenging at the front representing the key motivation.

With Ferrari under growing pressure after going five consecutive races without a podium, Hamilton was asked by Sky Sports whether he still considers Vasseur the right person to lead the team. Amid renewed speculation linking Horner with a potential move to Maranello, the seven-time world champion responded with a simple and unequivocal “Yes”.