Formula One defending champion Max Verstappen will be looking for a better individual and team performance as Red Bull looks to halt the losing streak and maintain its lead in the Formula One title battle at this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Following six races without a victory, which coincided with his competitors’ comeback, the Dutchman leads Lando Norris by 62 points in the drivers’ championship heading into Baku.
Additionally, his team’s lead over McLaren has shrunk to only eight points. The Spaniard Grand Prix in June was Verstappen’s and Red Bull’s most recent success, while teammate Sergio Perez’s sixth career win and second in Azerbaijan during the previous year’s event occurred on the streets of Baku.
If McLaren beats Red Bull by nine points on Sunday, it will end their supreme dominance that has seen them win the constructors’ title for almost two years, since the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix. Another loss to push Aston Martin off the top might be considered important in light of the company’s glamorous announcement on Tuesday of Red Bull designer Adrian Newey as future managing technical partner.
Verstappen and Mexican Perez have been hard at work trying to figure out how to get out of their current slump ever since Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won at Monza on September 1. Monza was a tough race for us, and it is our priority to get our form back to where it needs to be. We always want to be more competitive, and the team has been working hard on the issues we’ve had, said Verstappen.
We’ve had a good period of reflection and work since the last race. Both Max and I have been in the factory working to ensure we are finding a fix for the problems, said Perez. To get back to where we should be on the grid, it will take a team effort, and you can see that every day in Milton Keynes. This has pulled us all together, the Mexican driver added. I love to race in Baku. Street circuits suit my style, and Baku is a fun track, Perez stated.
Perez managed to finish eighth at Monza, two places behind three-time world champion Verstappen. The top five were completed by Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, two Ferraris, and two McLarens. He is happy to be back at a location he enjoys, especially after a season of intense speculation about his future at Red Bull due to a run of disappointing performances. He has won more races in Baku than any other driver and is the only one to do so twice.
Ferrari will also be optimistic about Baku following their success at Monza with an improved car that showed positive results from changes made to the floor and other areas. However, Ferrari’s team chief Fred Vasseur emphasized that the team’s primary emphasis will be consistency rather than glancing at the championship standings as his men chase down McLaren and Red Bull this weekend.
We have to focus on doing a good job every weekend, and if something has to come to us, it will come. It’s no good to focus on the championship and be conservative; everything can change so much from one week to the next, Vasseur expressed.
With Mercedes and McLaren both sealing wins in previous races, a close battle on the difficult and quick street track is expected. Oliver Bearman, Ferrari’s reserve driver, will replace Kevin Magnussen with Nico Hulkenberg at Haas. The Danish racing driver Magnussen has been suspended after accumulating 12 penalty points.
