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max verstappen regrets modifications to his red bull rb20

Verstappen has regrets after qualifying in Baku: 'Would've changed it back'

14 September at 19:00
  • Ludo van Denderen

In the run-up to qualifying, Red Bull Racing changed Max Verstappen's car. Naturally, the reigning world champion hoped this would give him extra pace, but it didn't help him. He ended up being the sixth-fastest car in qualifying and the Dutchman regrets this change.

After the qualifying session, Verstappen concluded that he would have been better off not adjusting the car. "I would have just changed it back. But that's not possible now," the driver, who hasn't won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, said. Even the word 'regret' was mentioned when speaking to the press, including GPblog.

"Yes, yes. Actually I do. But normally you would say that it (the change made) can be positive. But on a street circuit, when it's bumpy, it's a bit too extreme. You can't change anything now anyway, you have to make the best of it now. Hopefully with a bit more fuel at the beginning, it will be a bit better [on Sunday]. After that the tank is nearly empty, so then the problem will come back. We'll see."

Balance better, but Verstappen not satisfied

As is well known, Verstappen was particularly critical a fortnight ago in Monza. Back then, he particularly complained about the balance of his Red Bull. In Baku, it was already slightly better. Slightly. "I think it is already a lot better than in Monza. But to say that here is the best balance of this year? Then you are definitely not sixth. For me not at all. The balance was just definitely not good," the championship leader told reporters.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton

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