Russell warns Antonelli over F1 title pressure after Baku victory: 'It can change quick'

Russell held off a late charge to the line from Max Verstappen in Baku - ultimately winning by just 0.1s - but it was a dominant display throughout the Saturday race. Antonelli, meanwhile, struggled to recreate quite the same level of heroics as seen in his Monza GP victory, despite recovering from P16 to fifth.

The young Italian admitted he was "driving a bit like my grandmother" in Baku as he looked to avoid any race-ending incidents during what was a chaotic Azerbaijan GP. It was a successful drive in terms of damage limitation, but the points gap now has some wondering whether Russell still has a sniff at the title.

The Briton had effectively conceded defeat following Antonelli's Spanish GP victory last time out at the Madring, but after a Grand Slam Saturday in Baku, converting his pole position into victory, while leading all throughout and setting the fastest lap to boot, Russell now believes he can fight for victory at every weekend until F1's season finale.

When asked if he felt rejuvenated post-victory, Russell told media, including GPblog: "I think I never lost that faith in myself, even through at tough moments I knew there was a reason why I was off the pace. "It wasn’t like I just suddenly forgot how to drive, and I knew I would be able to find it again. I just had to be patient.

Russell was then reminded of his immediate post-race comments in which he said his plan was to win every race as F1 2026 enters "crunch time." with the Briton asked whether the lack of pressure compared to that of his teammate Antonelli could be used to his advantage.

"Yeah, for sure. There’s much less pressure on me than there is him," Russell said. "As I said yesterday, he’s had an incredibly flawless season. Yesterday was probably his first mistake of this whole season in a proper session, qualifying, race, and he still came home in P5 today.