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Verstappen wants to bounce back: "No room for error in Baku"

19:50, 19 Apr 2018

byNicolás Quarles van Ufford

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has said that there's no room for error in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, as he to pick up from what has proven to be a disappointing season so far.

Verstappen has been receiving some heavy criticisms as of late, as the aggressive driving style of the Dutchman has gotten him into multiple incidents this season. He first spun his RB14 in Melbourne which cost him a couple of places. In Bahrain, he crashed during qualifying, and during the race he drove into Lewis Hamilton in the second lap, puncturing his own tyre and breaking the differential of his car, ending his race. In China, Verstappen was in very good shape until he misjudged a gap that Sebastian Vettel left in a hairpin turn, and he dove in and hit the Ferrari. Both cars finished the race, but the errors are starting to pile up for Verstappen.

"Last year was very unfortunate," the Dutchman said when thinking of the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

"It was a shame because the car felt very good.

"I had a lot of issues which cost me a potential podium finish or even a win.

"I hope I can fix that this year."

Verstappen likes the Baku City Circuit, but he admits it's far from ideal for the Red Bulls, even though Daniel Ricciardo won last season.

"The straight is so long that we lose valuable time there.

"Last season we managed to circumvent our problems very well and we were very competitive on the race day.

"It's a very narrow circuit so you have to be very precise when steering in, there's no room for error, certainly not with these wide cars we have now."