Max never stood on the Baku podium: 'It's time to change that'

Published on 28 May 2021 by Niels Hendrix

Talking to Max Verstappen, we ask him how it feels to have secured the Monaco race win and to lead the championship for the first time in his Formula 1 career. Max answers: “It was a very good weekend and of course I’ve never stood on the podium there before so it was very nice to get the win. Taking the lead in the championship feels good but we need to be there at the end of the final race, that’s all that matters. Where we are now feels good and of course it shows that we had a decent start to the year but we have to keep on pushing because we still need to improve and do better. Nobody is ever perfect or standing still in this sport. So far we have made the smallest mistakes but nothing major and that is why we are first at the moment but we all know it can change very quickly.”

Apart from the win, what sticks out from the Monaco weekend? Max: “We struggled on Thursday in practice but the Red Bull Racing team put a lot of work into making sure that the car was a lot better on Saturday. At the start of the weekend we didn’t have it quite right and it wasn’t all easy, but everyone analyzed the data very well and made the car very competitive again for qualifying so we could be in the fight.”

Max continues: “It’s also very easy to make a mistake around Monaco, you have to keep focused lap after lap, but last Sunday it felt really good to be leading the race and controlling it. I was not going to throw away my first Monaco win that’s for sure.”

Moving on to Baku, is it a circuit that you enjoy and what are you expecting from the RB16B? Max: “The track is ok but probably not a favourite of mine if I’m honest. I’ve never been on the podium there so it’s time to change that. Let’s see how competitive we are, I do expect Mercedes to come back strong there though.”