BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept 26 (Reuters) - George Russell closed the ⁠gap to championship-leading Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli at the top of the Formula One standings after fending off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to complete a ⁠lights-to-flag win in Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the Italian fifth.

Russell took the flag just 0.196 seconds ahead of the flying Dutchman, who had ‌started eighth but crossed the line nearly side-by-side with his Mercedes rival, after two safety car phases turned a Saturday cruise into a fight for survival for the Briton.

FrenchmanIsack Hadjar completed a double podium for Red Bull, repaying the team’s decision to give him a contract extension with third on his return to racing action.

“It’s amazing to be back on the top step of the podium,” said Russell, after closing ​the gap to Antonelli from 81 to 66 points in the overall standings with 15 races completed.

“Every ⁠race since the (summer) break I have gone from strength to strength ⁠and I feel more like myself again.”

RUSSELL'S FIRST WIN SINCE JUNE

Antonelli had started 16th after a rare error saw him crash out of Friday’s qualifying.

His drive on Saturday ⁠was ‌less like his Monza charge – where he went from 19th to first – and more a slow-burn recovery.

Saturday’s win was the eighth of Russell’s career, his third of the season and first since the Austrian Grand Prix in June.

It capped a dominant weekend for the Briton and had seemed a mere formality, with the 28-year-old ⁠leading off the line and opening up a comfortable lead ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Verstappen ​and Hadjar.

But all that changed on the 31st of ‌the race’s 51 laps when a crash for Williams racer Alex Albon brought out the safety car.

Russell’s 11-second lead evaporated as the safety car bunched ⁠up the field.

Verstappen snatched second ​from Piastri into the first corner as the action resumed, with Russell unchallenged.

But the race was neutralised almost instantly by another safety car when Argentine Franco Colapinto locked up and ploughed into Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly, who in turn collected McLaren’s reigning champion Lando Norris.

The collision sidelined both Gasly and Norris on the spot, with the fuming Briton calling for the 23-year-old Colapinto to be banned.

Colapinto ⁠initially continued before pulling into the pits to retire. He was given a 10-second time ​penalty but the Argentine will have to serve it in the form of a five-place grid penalty at the next race in Malaysia as he failed to finish.

Russell had Verstappen right on his tail at the second restart.

The Mercedes driver kept the lead but was unable to shake off the chasing Red Bull, with the pair trading fastest laps.

It looked ⁠like the Dutchman, brushing the barriers as he hunted down his first win of the season, might just snatch victory on the final dash to the line but the Briton doggedly clung on.

“We had a good race, a tricky first stint on the mediums (tyres) but we got a good restart,” said Verstappen.

“Then the final lap George lost boost and I got close, but it was not enough.”

Behind them, Hadjar inherited third when Piastri locked up and took to the run-off area.

The Australian, who had started third, dropped to ​14th compounding a miserable day for McLaren.

“It has been a very long six weeks since I injured myself,” saidHadjar, who ⁠missed the last three races with a wrist injury.

“It was the right time to come back, I felt strong, I took it step by step to gain the confidence,” added ​the 21-year-old who was also on the podium in Monaco.

Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari. His seven-times world ‌champion teammate Lewis Hamilton was sixth.

Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad, who made contact with ​teammate Liam Lawson and sent the New Zealander into a spin, was seventh.

Esteban Ocon took eighth ahead of teammate Oliver Bearman in a double points finish for Haas. Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10 for Williams.

(Reporting by Abhishek Takle in Baku; Editing by Ed Osmond, Ken Ferris and Clare Fallon)