Mercedes Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord was full of praise for George Russell after the latter’s dominant performance during the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP.
After a strong start to the 2026 F1 season at the Australian GP, Mercedes driver George Russell experienced a series of setbacks marked by mechanical issues and difficulties getting on top of the new generation of cars.
As his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli keeps winning and leads the Championship by 66 points over Russell, the Briton’s struggles have come into even sharper focus.
However, during the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP weekend, Russell delivered one of his strongest and most dominant performances of this season and his career, all the way from practice to the finish line.
Speaking in a print media session after the conclusion of the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP, Mercedes Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord hailed Russell’s performance this weekend, speaking of a “strong response” after a difficult period for the Briton.
Lord: “Strong response” from Russel at the Azerbaijan GP after difficult run of races
“I think it’s been a really strong response. He had some difficult moments before the summer break and soul-searching as well, I think, at points, and he’s come back.
“Really strong, focused on the driving, focussing on the essentials of what he needs to do to put his weekends together step by step.
“And I think here you saw he hit the ground running in FP1 and really nobody’s seen him for dust ever since. He was dominant in every practise session, incredible lap in qualifying.
“And then even with the way the safety car played out and Max breathing down his neck, not a single mistake for 51 laps around Baku, which is much easier said than done.
“So, it’s been a really, really impressive weekend from him,” says Lord about his driver’s dominant showing at the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP.
After leading souveranly, the first safety car, prompted by Alex Albon’s crash, put Russell’s lead in jeopardy as 4-time Champion Max Verstappen charged to second after the first safety car restart. The Red Bull driver kept close to Russell through the second safety car restart until the finish line, where the Dutchmen finished just 0.196 seconds behind Russell.
Speaking about the tight battle to the finish line, benefitted by the double yellows for Bottas, at the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP, Lord notes that the ability to “drain the battery” completely on the last lap, helped Russell to defend his lead to the chequered flag. The Deputy Team Principal reckons that prior to the last lap, Verstappen was never in an ideal position to attack Russell, as the Mercedes driver managed to pull a decent gap through the second sector.
Lord on the battle between Russell and Verstappen to the finish line
“On the last lap you can drain the battery from top to bottom so you don’t have to keep the pack balanced for the following lap. And so that was good we had that in the pocket because the gap had gone from a second and a half to half a second through that double yellow.
“George dropped off the boost slightly as well, which sometimes can happen when the car speed drops too low, and the engine speed does as well. But no, it was like Max was on some sort of massive bungee cord and George would literally put half a second on him every lap through the middle sector. And you look at the GPS trace, and suddenly it almost goes vertical as the tow pulls Max back in.
“If anything, it almost seemed he was gaining more without overtake mode than with, which was quite counterintuitive. But even though it looked very close on the TV pictures and obviously they foreshortened things a little bit, there wasn’t any point where he was close enough to make an attempt or to contemplate an overtake.
“I think George had it all under control, albeit one tiny mistake and it could have looked very different. So, just absolutely fantastic job from him,” praises Lord.
