Verstappen vs. Russell
There Sprint Race of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw the return to victory of Sergio Perez, for the first time on the top step of the podium this season since Jeddah. However, more than the challenge for the final success between the Mexican and Charles Leclerc, the most discussed episode of the race took place in the moments following the start, and more specifically in the close fight for third position between George Russell and Max Verstappen. Between the two, the reigning world champion prevailed, but not without a contact which generated clearly visible damage to the Dutchman’s Red Bull.
Verstappen’s threat
A very tough battle that annoyed the number 1, so much so that he pushed the latter to join the Mercedes driver at the end of the race to clarify what had happened in person. However, Russell rejected his rival’s allegations, walking away as Verstappen was criticizing him. A gesture that the Dutchman didn’t like, so much so that the Red Bull driver ‘threatened’ him with a very heavy statement: “Expect the same, motherfucker”.
Verstappen, ‘the elephant’
Speaking of what happened on the track, also the Team Principal of Red Bull, Christian Hornerexpressed his opinion on the episode, understanding his pilot’s anger: “Turn 1 I can tolerate – explained to Sky Sports – turn 2 saw a tough battle between two riders, but into turn 3 George pushed him off the track. Max was understandably annoyed, and expressed his opinion to George. He’s a competitive driver, and when you take damage to your car, he’s disappointed. But Max is like an elephant: he doesn’t forget. You did a good job passing George, but then the tires started to overheat. Also, due to the damage taken, the balance has changed. We had confirmation from Milton Keynes on how the balance has changed, and how this has been a big handicap.”
Compliments to Perez
In conclusion, the Team Principal then focused on Perez’s victory, praising the Mexican: “It was a brilliant race from Checo – he added – at the end of the first lap he wanted to be in the first DRS zone because he wanted to get the job done quickly so he could start managing the tyres. She made that happen and she made an outstanding core industry to do that. Then he took advantage of the short DRS and made the pass in turn 1. He managed to gain some space while Charles was still trying to hang on to the DRS. Once this risk was averted, he was able to fully manage the race. Also, we could see the degradation of our competitors on that tire compound. The Ferraris struggled more in the second half of the stintand we gained a lot of information from this session that we can apply to our strategy for the race.”
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