‘Team Verstappen’ muscling in: Russell sees three-way scrap for P2 after Baku twist
George Russell walked into the Baku press room with a second place, a smirk, and a warning. Yes, Mercedes have nicked back P2 in the Constructors’ fight. No, he doesn’t think this is a straight tug‑of‑war with Ferrari anymore.
“There’s as much chance of Max finishing ahead of us as there is Ferrari, to be honest,” Russell said after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Sat two chairs down, Max Verstappen cocked an eyebrow. “Red Bull, no?” he offered. Russell grinned. “Yeah, Team Verstappen!”
The line was cheeky, but the point landed. Red Bull are back in that P2 conversation because Verstappen has detonated the last two Sundays — Monza and now Baku — and the car underneath him finally looks like it wants to play ball. With Yuki Tsunoda delivering a tidy sixth alongside Verstappen’s win on the streets of Baku, the tally mattered: Red Bull sliced the gap to Ferrari to 14 points, and are now just 18 off Mercedes in second.
That’s the uncomfortable truth for Mercedes after a good day’s work. Russell’s P2 and Kimi Antonelli’s P4 were the sort of factory‑pleasing numbers that win winter bonuses, enough to lift the Silver Arrows four clear of Ferrari in the table. But the formline is wriggling every weekend. Ferrari looked fearsomely quick on Friday — “They’ve always been great here,” Russell noted, reminding everyone that Charles Leclerc has stuck it on pole four times around this place — but a scruffy qualifying opened the door.
“It just swings so quickly,” Russell said. “They could have easily been one‑two on the grid. And with how difficult overtaking is, they probably would have finished one‑two as well. But they had a bad qualifying, came away with single‑figure points, and we were the ones coming away with 30 points, so nobody knows.”
If there’s one thing we do know, it’s that McLaren can start chilling the champagne. They didn’t clinch the Constructors’ title in Baku, but with a 333‑point lead, this isn’t a plot line anymore — it’s a waiting game.
The real drama is the runners‑up ribbon. A few weeks back it felt like Ferrari vs Mercedes, a straight drag race to Abu Dhabi. Verstappen’s resurgence has redrawn that map. He’s taking maximums again, and on Sunday he did it with the kind of control that makes team bosses reach for the cost‑cap spreadsheets. The more intriguing wrinkle? Tsunoda’s pace.
Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies, who’s been pushing the 2026 driver evaluations into the spotlight, didn’t bother hiding his satisfaction. “I think it’s his best race with us this year,” he said of Tsunoda. “Strong in qualifying; very strong in the race. He was sometimes two, sometimes three, sometimes four tenths away from Max. And Max was pulling away from everyone with that pace, so it was very, very serious pace.”
They expected Tsunoda to end up a rear‑gunner, defending the crest of the top 10 to protect Verstappen’s strategy. He ended up a pace‑carved P6 on merit. “Lando stayed behind him and didn’t put much pressure on,” Mekies added. “So it’s his best, not only result, but also race pace with us.”
That matters far beyond one Sunday. If Tsunoda keeps punching in results like this, Red Bull’s P2 assault stops being a one‑man show — and Mercedes and Ferrari know it. The money and momentum attached to finishing second are useful in any era; heading into a 2026 rules reset, it’s gasoline.
Ferrari, for their part, will leave Baku vexed. The speed is there, the execution wasn’t. Carlos Sainz salvaged a podium, and the car looked alive across long runs on Friday, but the window was narrow. When they miss it on Saturday, they lose their Sunday leverage, and on a circuit that punishes impatience, the bill comes due.
Mercedes are edging upwards, and Russell’s confidence is growing with it. He’s stringing together the sort of relentless, opportunistic drives that make you a Constructors’ asset. Antonelli’s fourth was equally significant: calm, clean, deceptively quick. Those are bankable points and a sign that the car is giving its drivers a bigger operating window — finally.
But Russell’s “Team Verstappen” line lingers because it rings true. If Max keeps stacking wins and Tsunoda turns these P6s into a habit, Red Bull will be in this to the flag. And wouldn’t that be a very 2025 twist: three giants fighting over second while McLaren tiptoes toward the title they’ve been threatening for months.
One thing’s certain: this one won’t be settled by spreadsheets. It’ll be settled by Saturdays, by who nails the out‑lap on a tight set of softs, by who stays out of the walls and in the window. Abu Dhabi might yet be a decider — and, as Russell says, nobody knows.
“Yeah,” he shrugged, “it just swings so quickly.”
Red Bull’s pendulum is swinging in the right direction. Mercedes and Ferrari have felt that breeze. Now let’s see who stands their ground.
