Max Verstappen turned the 2026 Azerbaijan GP into an overtaking masterclass, charging from eighth on the grid to second and coming within a tenth of George Russell at the finish as his relentless recovery saw him voted Driver of the Day.
With one of the most aggressive drives of the race, the 28-year-old wasted little time making his intentions clear as he passed Lewis Hamilton on Lap 2 into Turn 3 to move into sixth.
From there, he swiftly set about hounding down Lando Norris and at the same corner and blasted past the defending Formula 1 world champion, climbing from eighth to fifth in only a handful of laps.
Charles Leclerc was next and by Lap 5, Verstappen had dispatched the Ferrari and moved into fourth, with teammate Isack Hadjar the only remaining Red Bull between him and the podium positions.
Red Bull then delivered a subtle message to Hadjar, with the French-Algerian told that “race time is priority” and Verstappen duly completed the move into Turn 1. From eighth on the grid, he was suddenly third and hunting down Oscar Piastri.
The McLaren proved a much tougher target. Verstappen’s pace began to level off around Lap 12 as he complained about his medium tyres, while Piastri managed to keep the Red Bull behind.
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Hadjar was also closing rapidly and believed he could be two or three tenths quicker in clean air. That created a fascinating Red Bull battle, but Verstappen avoided becoming flustered and remained focused on the bigger prize.
The race changed again when the leaders stopped on Lap 32. Verstappen switched to soft tyres and remained firmly in contention, while a chaotic restart two laps later gave him another opportunity to attack.
As Russell went late, Verstappen dived down the inside at Turn 1, immediately putting himself into the fight at the front once again, a second safety car interruption prevented him from capitalizing immediately, but his opportunity eventually arrived.
With 10 laps remaining, Russell still led, but the Mercedes could not shake the Red Bull as the Dutchman repeatedly stayed within a second, using Overtake Mode and every available opportunity to pressure his rival around the Baku City Circuit.
On the final lap, the gap was under a second Russell was struggling with deployment from his power unit, whilst Verstappen had Overtake Mode available for one last attack but came up just short as he missed out by a tenth of a second.
Victory escaped him and his by the smallest of margins. Still, his drive was inspiring and that is why the F1 fans voted Verstappen as the Driver of the Day at the 2026 Azerbaijan GP as he secured his seventh podium of the season.
Verstappen reacts to finishing second in Baku
Starting eighth, Verstappen passed Hamilton, Norris, Leclerc and then his own teammate before spending the closing stages hunting down the race leader, an unthinkable prospect prior to lights out.
Whilst the result may have been second, the drive was defined by opportunistic and equally aggressive overtaking and a staunch refusal to let the race slip away against a superior power unit.
“We had a good race,” Verstappen told F1 TV. “The first stint was probably a little bit difficult with the medium tyre but we still worked our way into P3.
“Then we had a good restart into P2 and then it was just 1s, 1.1 and then on the final lap, with the yellow flag I think, George lost a bit of boost out of one corner.
“So that’s why I caught up quite a bit. Then to the line I got close but it was not enough.”
