Max post-Baku: 'We maximized the result'

Published on 29 April 2019 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen finished the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in fourth, his third consecutive P4. Over Skype, talking to Ziggo Sport’s Peptalk, Max reflects on his weekend in Baku. “We once again made the most of it. I can’t complain. I always to try to make the most of the situation and, at the moment, that’s not first place. Of course, I want to fight for the win, but we have to be realistic.”

After lining up in fourth place on the grid, Max was passed on the first lap by Sergio Perez in the Racing Point. “My start was OK. But I was unable to brake late into the first corner because Sebastian Vettel sat in front of me. Perez made a move on the outside, so there was little I could do.”

It did not take the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver long to regain his fourth spot with a classy overtake: “But I think I still lost three seconds behind him.”

“We went a bit too long in our first stint, and I lost a bit of time there. But that’s hindsight. In the moment we thought we’d made the right call. In the second stint, on the mediums, we were quick. I had a good feeling about that until we hit the virtual safety car.”

Team mate Pierre Gasly did not finish the race after problems with his drive shaft. The stricken RB15 prompted a virtual safety car, after which Max was ordered to bring the car safely home. “His problem was not power-unit related but the responsibility of the team. So, I had to stay clear off the kerbstones in the final laps, but that was all. I lost a lot of tyre temperature during the virtual safety car and was unable to get it back so we had no grip. And because you drive slower with less grip, the temperature drops even more. We weren’t able to get the tyre temp up quick enough. We had the same issue last year in Baku.”

Honda brought a new-spec engine along to Baku. “The engine was better in the race.” Combined with the upgrades planned for the next race, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Red Bull Racing is hoping to close the gap to the front. “All the teams will bring their updates to Spain but hopefully ours gives us that bit more.”

Before heading to Spain, Max travels to Budapest. There, on Wednesday 1 May, he will do a show run at The Great Run. A day later, he will be back in Milton Keynes, testing in the simulator in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix