Verstappen arrives revengeful in Baku after the lost victory last year

Max Verstappen and Baku, we can’t say it’s the most beautiful love story that Formula 1 has known. After 2018 and a diplomatic accident at Red Bull with Daniel Ricciardo at the first turn, of which we can estimate that he was at least partially at fault, 2021 had a completely different fate in store for him.

While leading the Grand Prix by nearly five seconds ahead of Pérez with five laps to go, the Dutch driver’s left rear tire bursts on the straight, at over 300km/h. Max Verstappen loses 25 points despite having a guaranteed victory. Fortunately for him, Lewis Hamilton will also not score any points after his mistake during the restart.

This year, Max Verstappen arrives in Baku with the desire to finish the job without any problems after last season’s incident. I’m excited to return to Baku, we have some unfinished business here from last year, says the 2021 world champion. It’s a tricky track with heavy braking zones and tight run-off areas, finding the best setup for the car will be challenging to ensure we have the correct level of downforce.

Dutch refers to the difficulty of setting up a good setup on the streets of the Azerbaijani capital, which includes the longest straight on the calendar but combined with many very slow corners that require good downforce. Verstappen will also be attentive to the performance of his car in qualifying, which he still doesn’t consider optimal. It will also be interesting to see if we can improve our performance on a single lap for qualifying, as we missed out a bit.

Max Verstappen arrives in Azerbaijan as the leader of the drivers’ championship, with a nine-point advantage over his rival Charles Leclerc.