F1 | Max: “RB20 undriveable, paid the price for the wrong setup”

Max Verstappen’s fifth place is probably the reflection of his weekend in Azerbaijan. Damage somewhat limited, given that he lost only three points to Lando Norris, but with the regret of not only finishing behind his closest rival for the title, but also of not being able to exploit the incident between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz to gain something more.

Added to this is another element: the accident between his teammate and the Ferrari driver meant that Verstappen could not attempt the assault on the fastest lap that is worth one point, which thus remained in Norris’ hands. This meant that, in addition to the two points for the position on the track, the Briton also scored the additional point for the fastest lap that the Dutchman was trying to beat: thus adding insult to injury.

However, beyond these elements, the three-time world champion’s weekend was perhaps the most subdued of the championship, also suffering from those changes made before qualifying that made the car even more rigid and prone to bouncing. If in qualifying Verstappen almost managed to patch things up, at least before that mistake coming out of the last corner destroyed a lap with which he could have hit the second row, in the race the problems were amplified.

Poor traction, as well as poor confidence in braking when entering and going through corners, where the car bounced, are those aspects that negatively influenced the Dutchman’s performance, who in fact underlined how the changes made before qualifying also decisively influenced the race: “I think we paid the price for the changes made before qualifying. This made it really difficult to drive the car, it was almost undriveable. The car bounced a lot. The wheels came off the ground in low-speed corners. When you have no contact with the asphalt, it is very difficult”, said Verstappen, underlining above all how in low-speed corners he was unable to have the right confidence in the car precisely because of these bounces, which in fact influenced various aspects, from braking to exit.

It is no coincidence that, for the first time this season, Verstappen had a rather large gap from Perez, which the Dutchman linked only to the choice of setup, because the two followed different paths in terms of set-ups: “The difference comes from the setup, but it was our choice. You win and lose as a team. We thought it was a step in the right direction, but in the end it didn’t go that way”.

Verstappen somehow limited the damage from this weekend because, if you consider that in front of everyone there is a McLaren, that of Oscar Piastri, the Baku weekend could have presented a much higher price. Starting from the back rows, instead, Norris did not go beyond a fourth place. A topic that, however, Verstappen prefers to address from a different point of view, because with a better race he could have even gained points instead of losing them. Furthermore, McLaren could have done a better job, with Norris paying for what happened on Saturday.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

“We can look at it from a different point of view. I think they could have done a better job too, right? So, I mean, it is what it is. I think we learned a lot. The car, I think, is a little bit better than the last races. Because then, yes, with the set-up maybe we went the wrong way and we will try to do better.”

Verstappen was stuck for part of the race right behind Norris, who in turn was unable to pass Alex Albon with a Williams that was extremely effective in terms of top speed and position management on the straights. A point that other rivals also learned, but which meant that somehow Verstappen was unable to express a better pace after the pit stop, aligning him with Norris. A point that McLaren took advantage of, which at the end with a fresh medium tyre managed to come back and pass the Dutchman.

“If you look at my race, it was probably the worst case scenario because I was stuck behind Alex and Lando. So yeah, obviously it wasn’t a surprise.”

All eyes are already on Singapore, where they will try to optimise the setup with the material available, given that a new floor has been brought here with an intermediate solution while waiting for more substantial innovations to arrive in Austin which, in the hopes of Red Bull, should give new life to the RB20.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“The overall handling of the car is better now. Unfortunately, yes, we made some wrong decisions in qualifying and we paid the price. What can I do for Singapore? We are trying to optimise the set-up to understand what we did wrong here. I don’t think it will be our best track, of course, but we’ll see. It could surprise us,” Verstappen added.

Verstappen had been investigated for overtaking under Virtual Safety Car conditions after the checkered flag, due to the accident between Perez and Sainz. On the in-lap, the Dutchman overtook two cars, including Norris himself, who immediately reported the episode on the radio: after having analyzed the case, the stewards only assigned a warning to Verstappen, since something similar had already happened in the past with other drivers, but he had never been penalized.