Verstappen can live with P2 in Baku: 'Some days are a bit harder'

Speaking to Viaplay, Verstappen says he is "obviously not completely satisfied" with second place, but says he learned a lot during the race. " Of course, that safety car didn't work out for me and then of course you try to push and get inside that DRS, but then I think you also use up a bit too much of your tyres to try to do that," he explains.

Even after that, however, Verstappen never really seemed to get a good feeling in his RB19. "I just never really had the right balance, from entering to the middle of the corner, and that's exactly where you have to be very confident on this circuit. It's all braking, entering, and then you can also be careful not to skid too much. But it just took a very long time to get a good feeling there," the 25-year-old Dutchman continued.

Less weekend for Verstappen

After that, many things were adjusted on Verstappen's wheel in terms of brake balance and differential, which did lead to a better balance at one point. However, that moment came too late for the Red Bull driver. "At the end, it did go well again, but I think at that point I had already asked too much of my tyres and the balance was just not ideal. Then it's just difficult, especially on this track," he added.

In the end, Verstappen lost some time against Perez because of a mistake of his own. "I made a mistake in Turn 1, I was adjusting things and on braking, I hit the kerb on the turn-in, and so I went a bit wide. It was just not right in terms of balance, then of course you can't attack and P2 is not so bad in the end," Verstappen continued.

"If you come second and you have no idea why, then, of course, you worry a bit more. I think I did learn a lot during the race and tried a lot. You are always learning and sometimes you have races where everything goes very well and runs perfectly, and some days are a bit more difficult," said the two-time world champion.