Struggling Verstappen won't give up in battle against McLaren
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Max Verstappen proved he's not a robot in Azerbaijan. The Dutchman also proved capable of a weaker weekend. However, Verstappen did not hesitate to take the blame and was also lucky that his rivals did not take full advantage of his struggles. Therefore, Verstappen and Red Bull remain ready to fight with having a lead in the drivers' standings, but becoming 2024 Formula 1 world champions will be a tough job.
Max Verstappen was one of the last to arrive to speak to the written media. The Dutchman first had a brief shower, but took a his time with all the media present in Baku. First with the television crews, then with the written media.
Just like after qualifying, Verstappen was disappointed but calm. He explained the setup was the reason for his disappointing performance in Azerbaijan. Prior to qualifying, Verstappen and his team had chosen go down a particular route, which turned out not to be the right one. Sergio Perez chose a different one, which turned out to be the one working better.
Verstappen takes the blame
Verstappen, therefore, took responsibility for that choice. "You win and lose as a team. We thought it would be a good direction to go into. In the end, it wasn't."
To put this worse weekend in context, the last time Verstappen was beaten by his teammate in qualifying was in Azerbaijan (sprint qualifying), back in 2023. More than a year ago, considering Baku was the fourth race on the calendar in 2023 and this year, it is the 17th in the schedule. In all those races and qualifying sessions since then, Perez never finished ahead of the Dutchman.
The damage after Verstappen's struggleful weekend was not too bad. His biggest rival in the championship, Lando Norris, did not get beyond P17 in qualifying. Verstappen did have expectations on Saturday that Lando would come to the front, but that he would even finish behind Lando, was maybe worse then Max expected.
''If you look at my race, everything was the worst-case scenario,'' Verstappen stated when asked by GPblog.com. ''My general balance that I had, and being stuck behind Alex and Lando, then, of course, it's not a surprise at all.''
Why Red Bull are still happy after Baku
Nevertheless, there is optimism within Red Bull Racing. After months of not knowing what the problems were and that they only got worse, the latest floor update does seem to ensure that the team is back on track. They are still behind McLaren, and on circuits like this Ferrari too, but the fact that Perez came close to victory said something about the update's potential.
On the other hand, Baku also showed the RB20 has a small operating window. Where Perez was at one with his car in the streets of Baku, Verstappen's weekend was ruined by one change to the setup.
This also makes the battle for the world championship tough. Perez's DNF has ensured that McLaren have built up a 20-point lead in the constructors' standings. Given their form, it will be tough for Red Bull to overturn that. ''I'm sure that we can do better. The fight is not over yet. We'll try to get that back,'' Verstappen sounded ready for a fight.
For the Dutchman himself, it is in his favour that his biggest rival did not get the maximum out of this weekend. Things went wrong in qualifying on Saturday and he had to do damange limitation on Sunday, while his teammate was fighting for victory. Norris still has the better chances, even according to Verstappen, but Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri are getting closer. Those three are so close together, and McLaren do not want to name one favourite, which could help Verstappen towards the end of the season.
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