That Azerbaijan Grand Prix gave us the exact kind of masterclass everyone wanted to see from George Russell this season. It delivered a thrilling race as two drivers went toe to toe in the final dozen laps, but Russell kept his nerve completely intact to put in his best performance of the year and keep Verstappen at bay.
For much of the weekend, it looked as though Russell had the race in the bag. His pace was generally strong from the start, and he even had team mate Kimi Antonelli on the ropes for once in the Mercedes comparison.
To be fair, Antonelli had started well in first practice before a hydraulic failure cost him crucial track time in both of Thursday's sessions. It seemed the championship leader never quite managed to recover from that early setback.
