Max Verstappen 'not enough' reaction after agonising Baku near-miss

Max Verstappen came within 0.196 seconds of a first win of the 2026 season in Baku, only to be denied by George Russell at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver had started the race down in eighth after a difficult qualifying session left him more than a second off Russell's pole time. 

But Verstappen carved his way back through the field, working into third place before a strong late safety car restart promoted him to second.

From there, the four-time champion hunted down Russell all the way to the flag, with the gap tumbling to just over a second before a late twist on the final lap brought the Dutchman right onto the Mercedes driver's gearbox.

Verstappen was consistently just too far adrift of Russell for a dive into the first corner; however, his best chance came on the final lap due to Valtteri Bottas crashing. 

Russell slowed considerably, with Verstappen closing right up on the Mercedes into the final corner. Had there been another lap, a chance at a Turn 1 overtake was on.

Nevertheless, it was another podium for Verstappen who continues to wait for a first victory of the season.

"We had a good race," said Verstappen.

"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 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."