George Russell was ready to pull out of F1 Azerbaijan GP due to illness – with a chance for Valtteri Bottas to drive – but he stayed put and deliver a solid result.
After photos of him traveling with F1 drivers to Baku hit the social media, it was a surprise to see Mercedes’ memo about Russell missing the Thursday media day due to illness. The type of illness was not disclosed and it eventually got revealed when his radio was played on air.
His voice cracked and it was evident that he had throat infection. He skipped media duties on Friday and Saturday, so as to not spread the infection. But on Sunday, he had to be on the podium and also the official FIA press conference. In fact, it was there that he revealed of almost skipping the weekend.
His health was such that he thought of skipping, concurred by team boss Toto Wolff, who said that Bottas was on standby. “Well, fortunately, it was Baku,” said Russell. “Even though it’s one of the toughest circuits, mentally and physically it’s maybe one of the easiest. So today I’m much better. Friday and Saturday, I was really rough.
“And had it been Singapore, as an example, I think I probably would have called it a day on Friday, to be honest, and probably wouldn’t have done the race. So, yeah, sort of fortunate timing. And I haven’t been ill for a couple of years, actually, so it just all sort of hit me at once these days, but I’m on the up now,” summed up Russell.
Wolff added: “Very impressive, considering that on Friday morning it was touch and go whether Valtteri would be in the car. And it was George himself that said, I’m not sure I can do it. And then, he recovered a little bit in the morning and decided to be in the car. And then every day, he went strong. And then doing a one and a half hour race here in Baku, not putting a single foot wrong on both tyres. And that was a super merited P2.”
Russell had good pace since the start of the race on Sunday. He lost to Yuki Tsunoda at the start in Turn 2, but quickly regained the place in Turn 4. He set out against teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, where they almost made contact at Turn 1, but the Brit backed out and waited for his chance.
The team played the strategy game by pitting Antonelli first. By going long, Russell bypassed both Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson to be a firm second, where he finished. “I think it was just staying out of trouble, to be honest,” said Russell. “I don’t think we had a spectacular weekend, to be honest. And, obviously, Carlos just did an amazing job, and Liam also did a great job qualifying ahead of us.
“But all of the cars who we ordinarily fight sort of made mistakes or underperformed, and we sort of picked up the pieces. So, obviously, really happy to finish P2 all things considered. But also, I think the cool temps helped us a little bit. So just good to capitalise on all of those things. I think it’s [performance] very dependent circuit to circuit.
“Definitely, this weekend, the conditions and the circuit layout probably suited our car better than we’ll see in Singapore. But right now, the field is so compact and overtaking is pretty difficult. So it seems like anybody can do an amazing lap and get themselves up the order. And, to be honest, it’s pretty incredible seeing the likes of Carlos, Hulkenberg, Hadjar on the podium this season,” summed up Russell.
When asked to Wolff if qualifying higher up would have helped in chasing Max Verstappen better, the Austrian wasn’t certain about the end result per se. But he was pleased with the pace, which was courtesy of track layout and also cool weather conditions.
“It’s always a bit optimistic to say that he could have given Max a hard time,” continued Wolff. “But our first analysis showed that we were within a tenth of Max in pure lap, in pure performance. I think, yeah, it would have been a race at the front, at least. Whether it would have been enough for a win, I don’t know. But the car was good on both tyres and his pace was impressive.
“I don’t think you can, simplify like this because I’ve always said that when I wear a pullover, it’s a good day. But there were more difficult weekends in colder conditions. Now, obviously, the track layout suits our car. There’s no lots of high-speed, mid-to-high-speed long corners, which are not our forte. So I think considering all of those variables, it was certain the track that suited us a bit more.”
Wolff also played down the little battle between Mercedes teammates. He didn’t see any ill intention from Antonelli at Turn 1 when he almost pushed Russell into the barrier. “On our two, sometimes when you’re close next to each other, these things can happen,” he said. “I think it was an OK situation. There wasn’t any ill intent from Kimi to push him out. He left the door a bit open. But obviously, George had to back out of it just to not risk a collision.”
Here’s Mercedes pair fighting at re-start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-azerbaijan-grand-prix-antonelli-comes-out-on-top-in-battle-for-p4-with-russell.1843873169297033057
Here’s George Russell jumping Carlos Sainz in pits: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-azerbaijan-grand-prix-russell-jumps-sainz-with-a-quick-fire-pit-stop-to-take-p2.1843882972190740140
Here’s George Russell after podium: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-azerbaijan-grand-prix-russell-battles-through-illness-to-take-a-podium-in-baku.1843894137727980149
Here’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli on fighting P4 finish
Here’s Mercedes using bio parts in carbon fibre
