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On a chaotic weekend at the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Max Verstappen became the sixth different driver to secure a race win at the Baku City Circuit and extended his lead in the championship standings by another 25 points.
In a post-race media interaction, the 24-year-old said:
“You can never make up what you lost last year but I think today we had an incredible pace in the car. We could really look after the tyres and we could chip away at it and pass for the lead. Maybe a tiny bit lucky with the retirement but nevertheless our car was really quick today to close that gap then you have a race on your hands. Overall, really happy with the balance of the car today.”
Ferrari had a nightmare Sunday in Baku with mechanical issues taking down both cars, significantly influencing their position in the constructors' standings as compared to Red Bull.
Former F1 driver believes Max Verstappen is more at ease after his maiden title
Max Verstappen had a relatively weak Grand Prix back in Monaco, having come in third behind his teammate Sergio Perez and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Former F1 driver Allan McNish believes that the Dutchman was visibly less aggressive in his driving style, claiming that he now no longer has much to prove after securing his maiden title last season.
On the F1 Nation podcast, McNish reflected on Verstappen's weekend in Monaco, saying:
“The one thing I saw with Max [Verstappen] was someone that wasn’t necessarily attacking for the last tenth or the last overtake that we have seen before. Someone that realised ‘maybe I’m not quite quick enough this weekend to deliver a win’ and is thinking [about the] long game.”
McNish further went on to add, saying:
“It might be the person that’s just won a world championship and knows he’s already got one in his pocket, so doesn’t necessarily have that little thing to prove. Not to everyone else, but very often to yourself. I certainly know from my point of view as a driver, it was proving it to myself as much as it was to proving it to anyone else. When he looked in the mirror at the end, after the restart, he had his main championship contender behind him. The person leading was obviously his teammate, so from that perspective it was a reasonably protected position. I would say he was in a good position whichever way it was, because he was ahead of Charles Leclerc.”
Max Verstappen managed to secure his first win in Baku, putting an end to his streak of bad luck on the circuit. Before that, however, he was outperformed by both his teammate and Charles Leclerc in yesterday's qualifying session.
