Andrea Kimi Antonelli keeps his championship lead after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but George Russell's victory has cut things seriously close. Antonelli rolled into Baku with an 81-point buffer over his Mercedes teammate, yet a qualifying crash that left him starting 16th put him in damage control mode. He managed to claw back to fifth in the race, but that wasn't enough to stop Russell making up serious ground in the standings.

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Russell's win was proper dramatic stuff. He held off Max Verstappen by the thinnest of margins, just a tenth of a second separating them at the line, to claim his first victory since Austria. It's the kind of result that can shift momentum fast in a championship fight. With that win, Russell cut Antonelli's lead down to 66 points, which means we've gone from a seemingly comfortable advantage to something much tighter heading into the next races.

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Looking at the wider championship picture, things are getting interesting across the grid. Lewis Hamilton sits third with 199 points for Ferrari, while Lando Norris holds fourth for McLaren with 186. Max Verstappen's at sixth with 163 points, so Red Bull's got work to do if they want back into this fight. Meanwhile Mercedes is absolutely dominating the constructors' championship with 538 points, nearly 160 clear of Ferrari in second. It's been a strong season for the Silver Arrows, but Antonelli will know that leads can evaporate quickly in Formula 1 if he's not careful.

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The championship's still Antonelli's to lose, but Russell's shown he's got the speed and the nerve to keep pushing. With Baku done and dusted, everyone's eyes are on what comes next. Antonelli's still got eight wins and a commanding lead, but if Russell keeps converting races into victories like that, this could get properly spicy before the season's done.

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