Red Bull is no longer the dominant force in Formula 1, something that seemed unthinkable at the start of the 2024 season. Last time out was perhaps the worst performance of the team in the entire year, with championship leader Max Verstappen managing only sixth and Sergio Pérez finishing two spots lower in eighth.
The Mexican driver however was confident that they would be able to turn their fortunes around this weekend in Baku.
“I think this should be a lot better. Already felt better in the simulator. So I’m coming here a lot more positive than the last few weekends. Definitely, Monza was very difficult. So I do expect us to be closer to the front than the last few weekends.
“The confidence is high in this place,” last year’s winner added. “But at the same time, I know that what you’ve done in the past, it doesn’t matter. It’s a whole new challenge.And I really hope that I can find the right balance around this place because you need a lot of confidence. And if I’m able to do that, then it should be a strong weekend.”
Verstappen was less optimistic when speaking to the press during the media day ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“We still have a lot of work to do. But I do think that in a way Monza is positive to learn more about the car basically. And now it just takes time to make the car better.
“Understand our weaknesses, I think we did. Now it’s about just trying to find solutions for it.
“I also know that it’s not coming within one or two weeks. From when you understand your problems. I hope that from now onwards we can just look ahead and try to be better.
“And not like on Monza.“
The biggest issue with the RB20 is the balance, something Pérez has been complaining about since the early part of the season, but as of late Verstappen has also become more vocal about the handling of the car.
“Yeah, I think given the driving style of Max, it wasn’t so obvious the issue with his driving style,” Pérez explained the apparent sudden dissatisfaction with his team mate. “With my driving style, it all became a lot more apparent. Probably since race number three of the season, the issues I was having just got worse and worse. And now Max seems to be finding similar issues.
“I think [the team] believed me since the beginning. But probably they felt like it was not so noticeable. And Max was coping well with them. It was not such an issue.
“But like I said, it’s something that will help both drivers. But like I’ve said before, it will help me even more because of the driving style I have.“
Verstappen on the other hand feels he has been addressing the issues as well as Pérez had.
“I’ve always complained about the balance of the car, so it’s nothing new to me as well. But it’s been something that maybe creeped in over a long period of time.”
The biggest news of the past week was of course the announcement of Adrian Newey at Aston Martin, a long anticipated move, every since he announced his departure from Red Bull Racing. Both drivers however do not feel the departure of arguably F1’s greatest engineer has been key to the issues the team is facing.
“I wouldn’t say [it’s related],” Verstappen said. “When it was announced that’s where it started to go a little bit wrong for us.
“But I think it already started to go wrong for us a long time before. But we didn’t really see that at the time. I personally don’t think it’s related. That is not to be negative towards Adrian or whatever. But I definitely don’t see it as something that is related. But it’s something that creeped in over time.“
Pérez backs up the Dutchman: “I think definitely the last few races or the start of the season, we certainly now know the route we’ve been taking with the development of the car. And that was going in the wrong direction.
“I think, like always, it’s not a one-man show. We have very capable people in the team that have won so many races in the past. The structure is very strong within Red Bull. So obviously, Adrian has a lot of influence, no question about it. But at the same time, we’ve got a great bunch of engineers backing him.“
After the Baku-Singapore double-header there is a three week break until the US Grand Prix in Austin, giving Red Bull a little opportunity to come with updates. With the current car however, Pérez thinks the coming two races are the team’s best opportunity to bounce back.
“I think at the moment, with the current package we have, these two should be our best tracks.
“These two coming up races should be our best ones. So I do expect us to look more competitive here. But if we are able to fix the issue, then we can get back to contention. Because it’s something that can bring a lot of lap time to us.“
Verstappen adds that he doesn’t expect the weekend to be as bad as in Monza.
“Every single weekend it’s never really been the same, you know, between the four teams. So, yeah, we’ll see again this weekend.
“It’s a completely different track. So, for sure, you have different kind of limitations potentially, but we’ll see, throughout the weekend.
“It depends on what we experience here and Singapore as well,” he explains his hopes for a turnaround between Singapore and Austin. “And, of course, how quickly we can react to things if we find something or not.”
