‪“Struggling to be consistent”: Max Verstappen explains what went wrong for him against Sergio Perez in Baku‬

Max Verstappen lost out to his teammate Sergio Perez at the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP.

While the Dutchman came close, he was unable to take the fight to the Mexican, who is cementing himself as the king of street circuits.

Verstappen ran in P1 before losing out to Perez after Red Bull made him pit immediately after Nyck de Vries' incident. As a result, the Dutchman made a normal pitstop while the rest of the grid gained a lot of time to him as they pit under the safety car that subsequently followed.

While the two-time world champion lost out to both Perez and Charles Leclerc after the safety car, he soon got the jump on the Ferrari driver who was running in P2.

The chase between Max Verstappen and Perez went on for the rest of the race, with the Dutchman ultimately losing out to his teammate. Sergio Perez is now only six points behind Verstappen in the drivers' standings.

Speaking about his race, Max Verstappen told Damon Hill in Parc Ferme:

"Yeah, I think the safety car was a bit unlucky and then I had to push again and I tried to stay very close - to try and stay in the DRS, but I think the tyres were overheating a bit. Because of that of course trying to follow....but of course, the balance. I was struggling to be consistent."

---

Others to blame for Max Verstappen's dominance, claims former Bridgestone head

Former head of tire competition at Bridgestone Kees van de Grint recently commented on Max Verstappen's current F1 domination, stating that it is not solely due to his own skill.

Verstappen took an early lead in the 2023 season's Drivers' Championship by winning two races and placing second twice in the first four races.

Currently, Red Bull holds a strong 1-2 position in the drivers' standings, with Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez in second place. The Mexican won the 2023 Azerbaijan GP, reducing his gap to Verstappen.

Van de Grint contends that Verstappen's success is largely due to his competitors' shortcomings, as they have been unable to match Red Bull's technological advancements in the modern ground-effect era of the sport.

He alleges that Verstappen has faced little resistance from other teams, given his car's superior performance. Van de Grint said:

“It is, of course, monotonous, I did not expect otherwise but Max Verstappen is the big winner. His dominance is actually not good for the sport but you can’t blame him, you have to blame the rest of it.”

However, with Sergio Perez now only six points behind the Dutchman in the standings, it will be interesting to see if Verstappen can secure his third title in the sport.