Heading into the Azerbaijan GP, Max Verstappen was bracing for a tough weekend quite unlike his dominance since 2022. Still, Red Bull turned a corner toward recovering the RB20’s performance to some extent in Friday practice. Sergio Perez was looking quite good and Verstappen also was in the mix for the top three. But then the team made certain changes before qualifying that cost them a lot in the race.
Speaking after the race, Verstappen summarized that the changes they made to their car setup and some minor updates after Monza were in the “right direction”. The RB20 was looking good through the 90-degree corners of the Baku city circuit.
However, Red Bull tried to tweak their setup to improve the car’s overall performance — probably their straight-line speed deficit — before qualifying. Due to this, Verstappen stated they took a step back.
Per BBC’s F1: Chequered Flag podcast, the three-time champion said, “I think we were heading in a right direction but then the changes that we made before qualifying tipped it over the edge and we paid the price for that in the race unfortunately.”
Eventually, both Verstappen and Perez couldn’t fight for pole as McLaren and Ferrari locked out the front row. Even in the race, the Dutchman did not have an ideal first stint which compromised his race and he had to fend off a lot of traffic after his pit stop.
As for the championship battle, Verstappen lost three points to Lando Norris with the Briton finishing ahead of him in P4. While the three-time champion still holds a 59-point lead, he will expect Red Bull to iron out the RB20’s issues for enabling him to fight Norris on equal terms.
Verstappen and Red Bull in damage limitation mode
Baku could have yielded a solid points haul for Red Bull if not for Sergio Perez’s crash toward the end of the race. While McLaren would have still taken the lead in the constructors’ standings, it would have been a smaller margin. Now, the Milton Keynes outfit head to the dreaded Singapore track where they struggled a lot last year and lost their only race of the season.
Red Bull have hinted at bringing upgrades for the US GP in Austin in late October, which is the next round after Singapore. However, that still leaves them in damage limitation mode for the race in Marina Bay.
With the RB20 in an even more tricky state and the pecking order a lot closer than 2023, Verstappen may be hoping for a miracle to not lose too many points in the championship battle to Norris.
The Dutchman would also bank on Red Bull’s COTA upgrades to be effective and restore the RB20’s competitive pace for the final leg of the season in the Americas and the Middle East. Even the Milton Keynes outfit can utilize the uncharacteristic month-long break before the US GP to hone in their upgrades and bounce back in style.
