Self-critical Verstappen shows in Baku why he already has 3 F1 world titles

After qualifying in Azerbaijan, Verstappen could have blamed his down day on anything: the car not being balanced, the bouncing, the yellow flags. Lando Norris showed how to do that: point to the yellow flag as the reason for not getting through Q1. Sky Sports sympathised with Norris, but Jacques Villeneuve did not. The latter already pointed out to his British colleagues that it was not the yellow flag but a mistake by Norris himself that had hurt him.

Verstappen was beaten by teammate Sergio Perez in qualifying for the first time since Baku 2023, but still finished far ahead of Norris. Still, Max could not muster a smile when asked if it was positive that Lando had to start from P17: "Yeah, of course, but I still want to do good myself, and today was a bad day."

Why Verstappen already has three F1 world titles

Ahead of the race weekend, Perez labelled the races in Baku and Singapore as the races where Red Bull could still do well with the RB20. Is there disappointment, then, qualifying at P4 and P6? "For me here with P6, of course, there is. I could not have beaten Charles (Leclerc), but a second place could certainly have been possible. That's not where we are, though, and that's a disappointment, of course," Verstappen said in response to a question from GPblog.

Although both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen indicated that Red Bull Racing's updates are finally working, Verstappen remains critical. There was no celebration after his rival was out after Q1, but he was critical that he did not make the most of it.

It is the ultimate example to prove Adrian Newey right about the portrayal in the British media, especially from Sky Sports. The top designer said on the High-Performance Podcast that Sky had a rather nationalistic approach with their global influence, demonising Verstappen. The self-critical Verstappen proved once again in Baku that the criticism he gets from that corner is mostly unjustified. Verstappen himself also had to laugh at Newey's statements, which clearly spoke up for the Red Bull driver: "I agree 100%."

Verstappen ended his time with the Dutch press with a big smile, showing that he was in good spirits. Red Bull seems to be heading in the right direction again; the update has worked, and their biggest rival made bad mistakes. The points will not be distributed until Sunday, but the first mental blow was dealt on Saturday.