After winning the Monaco GP and the great news of the renewal, Checo Pérez has been ahead of Verstappen in the four sessions held so far in Baku, and only in Q1 of the classification did the Dutchman manage to be the first Red Bull .
In the final moments of the final round, Q3 of the Azerbaijan GP, Verstappen took to the track before Sergio Pérez, who had an engine problem and was forced to wait in the garage for the car to start.
As he left the box, Max Verstappen asked his team “why are you taking me out first?”, which quickly generated all kinds of theories and comments on social networks. The champion wanted to slipstream on a circuit in Baku where riding behind your partner is key, but he started about 30 seconds before the Mexican, and there was no slipstream for anyone.
When asked about that phrase he said to Red Bull over the radio about the final qualifying strategy, Verstappen explained that it was his turn to have the slipstream.
“We always agree on it in advance, one weekend I go out first and the other weekend Checo goes out. That’s why I asked on the radio,” he replied at the FIA press conference.
Without a slipstream (although neither did Pérez, who also assures that his engine problem hampered the pace of his last lap), Verstappen had to settle for third place, behind his teammate and poleman Charles Leclerc.
“The beginning of the last final lap was good, but then it slipped away a bit,” he lamented, before admitting his driving wasn’t the best. “ I made some small mistakes, so it wasn’t ideal. Overall, I had some trouble finding a good balance front and rear over one lap. In fact, I was looking for it until the end.”
The leader of the championship will have to come back against his greatest rival and against a box neighbor who has gone to his beard in the last two weeks: “Obviously, this is not what you want, but I think that as a team we have a good opportunity for tomorrow’s race from second and third place”.
Both Ferrari and Red Bull suspect that while those of the Cavallino prevail in classification (Leclerc has four consecutive poles), on Sunday the favorites are those of energy drinks.
” We ‘ll see tomorrow, but normally we are worse after one lap and our car should be good in the race. In any case, as a team we want to get the most out of it and we already saw that a lot can happen in Baku. So keep a cool head It will be important.”
Except for the twisty second sector, the Baku street circuit is characterized by long straights, where the RB18 is ahead. “I don’t know if it’s nine kilometres, maybe a bit less, but we’re still a bit faster, yes,” Verstappen said of the top speed difference. “But anyway, of course you also have to be quick in the corners to take advantage of it.”
