​George Russell crosses the finish line with Max Verstappen less than two tenths of a second behind [Getty Images]Mercedes’ George Russell held off a late challenge from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to win an Azerbaijan Grand Prix enlivened late on by two safety car periods.Russell dominated the first part of the race while Verstappen was climbing up from eighth place on the grid before becoming stuck behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.But two safety cars in quick succession put the Red Bull on Russell’s tail for an 11-lap chase to the flag.Russell could never break free of Verstappen but the four-time world champion was not quite able to get close enough to try an overtaking move.After an issue with energy deployment, Russell was scared Verstappen would pass him on the run to the line, but held on to win by just under 0.2 seconds.Russell’s win, coupled with team-mate Kimi Antonelli recovering from 16th to fifth, narrows the Italian’s advantage over the Briton in the championship to 66 points.”It’s amazing to be back on the top step of the podium. I do want to say a big thanks to my team because they’ve continued to believe in me through a tough moment, helped me come through it,” Russell said. “I’m really proud to have had this weekend.”Behind the top two, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar drove a strong race to the final podium position on his return after missing three races with a broken wrist.The key stories of an initially soporific and then dramatic and tense grand prix were:Russell’s accomplished drive to his first win since the Austrian Grand Prix in JuneVerstappen’s superb fightback from a difficult qualifyingMid-race chaos with a first safety car triggering a second almost immediately, as so often happensMcLaren’s race unravelling after a promising startRussell appeared on course for a comfortable win as the race unfolded with few incidents of note in the opening stages.Piastri moved up from third on the grid to second by passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the start but the Australian lacked the pace to chase Russell, who edged away into a comfortable lead.Behind, Piastri soon found himself holding off Hadjar, who won an early battle with McLaren’s Lando Norris and then passed Leclerc to challenge the McLaren.Meanwhile, Verstappen was making his way up from eighth place after a qualifying session in which a cascade of problems had prevented him qualifying second to Russell.By lap seven, he was past Hadjar into third place after the Frenchman did not fight him.The three cars circulated together in a stalemate, with no-one able to pass and the teams all waiting for the expected accident that would lead to a safety car and a cheap pit stop.That happened on lap 30, when Williams’ Alex Albon crashed at Turn Five.On the restart, six laps later, Verstappen passed Piastri into Turn One to move into second place.But the race was almost immediately put back under caution after a pile-up at the first corner caused by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, who cannoned into