Russell’s 0.196s Baku win enters F1’s 10 closest racing finishes

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George Russell beat Max Verstappen by 0.196s in the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
It is the 10th-smallest recorded winning margin among F1 races completed under green-flag conditions.
Peter Gethin’s 0.010s victory at Monza in 1971 remains the closest recorded finish.

George Russell’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory over Max Verstappen was decided by 0.196 seconds, placing it among the closest finishes in Formula 1 World Championship history. With races that ended behind the safety car removed, Saturday’s result in Baku ranks 10th on the list of smallest recorded gaps between first and second.

Russell had led comfortably before Alex Albon crashed at Turn 5 on lap 31. The resulting safety car erased a lead of almost 10 seconds. At the restart, Verstappen passed Oscar Piastri for second, but a collision involving Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris brought out the safety car again.

The Mercedes driver retained the lead when racing resumed for a second time. Verstappen stayed within a second over the closing laps, gaining on Baku’s long straight while Russell protected enough of an advantage through the rest of the circuit. The Red Bull closed at the finish, but Russell reached the line 0.196s ahead.

The distinction between a close classified result and a close racing finish matters here. Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton by 0.179s in the official classification of the 2023 Australian Grand Prix, a smaller gap than the one in Baku. That race, however, concluded with a lap behind the safety car following a late red flag. It is excluded from the ranking below because the drivers did not race to the chequered flag.

The 10 closest F1 finishes under green-flag conditions

Rank	Grand Prix	Winner	Runner-up	Margin
1	Italy 1971	Peter Gethin	Ronnie Peterson	0.010s
2	United States 2002	Rubens Barrichello	Michael Schumacher	0.011s
3	Spain 1986	Ayrton Senna	Nigel Mansell	0.014s
4	Austria 1982	Elio de Angelis	Keke Rosberg	0.050s
5	Italy 1969	Jackie Stewart	Jochen Rindt	0.080s
6=	France 1954	Juan Manuel Fangio	Karl Kling	0.100s
6=	France 1961	Giancarlo Baghetti	Dan Gurney	0.100s
8	Canada 2000	Michael Schumacher	Rubens Barrichello	0.174s
9	Austria 2002	Michael Schumacher	Rubens Barrichello	0.182s
10	Azerbaijan 2026	George Russell	Max Verstappen	0.196s

The numbers cover different eras of timekeeping. Gethin’s 1971 margin was recorded to hundredths of a second, while the 2002 Indianapolis result was measured to thousandths; the displayed figures should therefore be read as the official recorded margins, rather than proof that those two finishes can be separated to identical precision.

The margins also came about in different ways. Senna resisted Mansell’s late charge at Jerez in 1986, and de Angelis held Rosberg off at the Österreichring in 1982. The two Ferrari finishes from 2002 followed contrasting team decisions: Barrichello slowed to let Schumacher win in Austria, while Barrichello crossed narrowly ahead when the teammates approached the Indianapolis finish together.

Russell’s result was his third victory of 2026. Isack Hadjar finished third in Baku, with Charles Leclerc fourth and Kimi Antonelli fifth. The next round is the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang in Malaysia, scheduled for 4 October.