"He was really riled up": Sergio Perez winning the sprint was what frustrated Max Verstappen in Baku

F1 presenter Rachel Brookes recently explained how Max Verstappen was frustrated because his teammate Sergio Perez won the Azerbaijan GP sprint race.

The Mexican managed to overtake Charles Leclerc and lead for most of the race to win on Saturday. Verstappen was unable to dominate the sprint race simply because he had a massive hole in his sidepod following his collision with George Russell at the start of the sprint race.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Brookes explained how she noticed Max Verstappen's frustration after the race. She deduced that the reigning world champion was not only angry towards the Mercedes driver who damaged his car but was also frustrated to see his teammate win another race and dominate the weekend.

Brookes said:

"I found it fascinating at the weekend watching their body language. Because I love watching people's body language. I know a lot of the guys laugh at me sometimes for trying to pick on things but it was just so interesting."

"Because I felt like, firstly, the incident with Max and George, Max's response on Saturday, he was really riled up. It wasn't just the incident with George, I don't feel, It's because his teammate won a race."

Brookes highlighted Sergio Perez's reaction and how calm and composed he was even after winning the race. She said:

"His teammate won a race and drivers hate that. And then when I spoke to Sergio on Saturday, he was really calm, and you wouldn't have known he'd just won the sprint. He was very, very measured in his responses; he didn't even smile in my interview."

It is safe to say that Perez is now a title contender and is the driver who can give Max Verstappen a fair fight, simply because no other driver or team is able to catch the Red Bulls.

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Max Verstappen gives insights into small adjustments he made in the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP

Max Verstappen explained how his car setup was slightly different from his teammate's. Though there were no major issues, he explained how his setup with the new Pirelli tires was not optimal, especially in Baku.

The Dutchman was seen making small adjustments on his steering wheel while chasing his teammate. He said:

"There were no problems. There were no problems with it. I probably use those settings a bit differently than Checo. As I said, maybe I wasn't using the right settings with the new Pirelli tyres, which might be more noticeable on a street circuit, because here you need more confidence in the corners. The balance has to be as close to perfect as possible."

It was evident that both the Red Bull drivers were pushing their cars to the absolute limit in the Azerbaijan GP. Both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen shaved the walls on several turns, trying to use as much track as possible.