Max Verstappen, leader of the championship, has never been in the lead this weekend. Leclerc's two poles and Perez's two victories (sprint and Sunday race) "relegated" the Dutchman on the edge of the podium, in those steps that lately is not used to see.
If yesterday the contact with Russell made him lose lap time and consequently the possibility of fighting with Leclerc and Perez, today the release of the safety car just after his pit stop involved overtaking Perez. The Mexican, however, was cool in managing the gap from his teammate without ever letting himself worry.
Verstappen's words
About the safety car coming out and the fight with Checo: “After the restart, I pushed and tried to stay in the DRS area, but the tires overheated a bit because I was trying to follow him. I tried to play a bit with the tools we have available and I finally found an ideal situation in the closing laps, but it was too late. So many things to learn from this race and in the end a good result for the team".
"It will be tension between me and Perez how did he get back in the standings? I do not know – continues Verstappen – the season is long. Baku is very different from Miami, which in turn will be different from all the other tracks and you have to keep learning: you can't always be perfect".
Both Red Bull drivers, as well as many others, hit the walls on multiple occasions. In this regard, Verstappen hastily comments: “It's part of what happens on street circuits”.
