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Max Verstappen believes he has not yet reached his full potential with the RB18 as compared to his teammate Sergio Perez. After taking a glorious win at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix two weeks ago, Perez has put himself in the mix for the championship title.
Admitting that he would "like a bit more front end" at the drivers' press conference ahead of the 2022 Azerbaijan GP, Verstappen said:
“I definitely see, of course, Checo [Sergio Perez] is a bit more comfortable than last year. For my side, yeah, I would like a bit more front end, that’s what we’re working at. I don’t say like I’m uncomfortable in the car but these cars are so heavy, and long, and wide that, with increased weight as well, you want a car, which turns better, because it just goes faster around a corner. And you can extract a bit more in qualifying when you really push it, which cannot at the moment, but it’s not all very dramatic. I mean, I still won four races. So, that’s more than I did last year at this time. So, it’s not that bad. It’s just fine-tuning little things.”
Sergio Perez has outperformed Max Verstappen in both free practice sessions this Friday, just as he dominated the weekend in Monaco previously. It is worth noting that the Dutchman has secured four wins so far this season and currently leads the drivers' standings with a fifteen-point advantage over his teammate.
Max Verstappen says he will approach Azerbaijan GP "like any other" race
Max Verstappen has not particularly had the best of luck in Baku, especially with the devastating DNF he suffered here last season. The Red Bull driver, however, claimed that, given the vastly different cars and tires introduced this season, he remains unbothered by his past lack of success at the Baku City Circuit.
When asked about his mindset going into the Azerbaijan GP, the 24-year-old admitted that he was not going to approach the race any differently. He said:
“Like any other, to be honest. We just need to see through practice, what we can do with the car, see where we are at. And try to find the best balance and then hopefully, of course, we are going to be quick enough to try and win the race.”
When questioned if the tires are going to be a concern, given that they were the reason behind his DNF last season, Max Verstappen said:
“No, because it’s not our fault. So, there’s nothing we can do. We just have completely different tyres anyway this year, so the tyres are going to behave anyway very, very different.”
Verstappen started the weekend on the backfoot this Friday but Saturday's qualifying session will certainly provide a better idea of what to expect from the main race.
