Baku woke the Verstappen beast unexpectedly

You can’t jump to conclusions and everything can change as the sessions go by, but What if Red Bull reacted? What if the ‘beast’ Verstappen has woken up? Those are the doubts left by the first free training sessions of F1 Azerbaijan GPplayed this Friday morning in Baku, land of fire, where Max Verstappen wants to reappear like the Phoenix. When everyone considered him buried because of the many problems his car suffered in the past Grand Prixfrom Imolathe Dutchman put a good time on the time table and ‘Checo’ Pérez was third, just 3 tenths behind. The sensations left behind by the Red Bulls are amazing.

Max Verstappen From Austria, he has accumulated at least 6 consecutive races without a win, a remarkable patch of results for the reigning champion, who last year completed the greatest dominance in history with 19 wins in a possible 22 (Red Bull won 21 of 22) .

In Monza, two weeks ago, problems continued to accumulate in a car where the team could not find the right balance or improve it throughout the weekend. And at the same time, they continue to struggle to make sense of the wheels. And there, Max turned off the alarms with a loud statement: ““Last year we had a great car, the most dominant car ever, and we basically turned it into a monster.”

“Both championships (builders and drivers) are unrealistic. It is up to the team to have many changes in the car, because usually we go from a very dominant one to an unmeasurable one in six to eight months. We must rotate”he assured. QBut after watching Adrian Newey head to the Aston Martin in Baku, things started to get weird for Verstappen and Pérez.

The Red Bull version seen in Free Practice 1 in Baku is more like what we’ve had. Or at least, without as many problems at the start as in the previous Grand Prix. In that sense, Red Bull’s introduction of a new floor in its car must have a lot to do with itan evolution that, for the moment, seems to be working. What if your problems are over?

With soft tires, one lap away, although he reached the time later than his rivals, with the track slightly better, Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton’s best time in two excellent first sectors where he beat him by 7 tenths. Then, he lost about 4 in the last sector, by pure engine power, to maintain a lead of 0.313 with respect to Hamilton For his part, something similar happened to Pérez, who was beaten by ‘Checo’ in the game by more than 3 tenths when passing the second sector, but lost the battle against Lewis by giving up 3 tenths in the last sector, finishing third, 63 thousandths behind Hamilton and 0.376 behind the best time of Max.

What if Red Bull came back? Is it something specific about this breed? There is not enough time to answer these questions, and above all, we have to wait for Free Practice 2 and qualifying on Saturday to see if what was seen in Free Practice 1 is representative.

The track started out very dirty and the times should improve a lot. Additionally, fuel charges and engine maps are unknown. Surprisingly, where the Red Bulls lost the most was on the straights of the final sector, perhaps because of their aerodynamic configuration, or perhaps because they still allocate more potential than the others in terms of propellant.

Bumpy session with Sainz 5th and Leclerc and Colapinto to the wall

Norris finished in fourth position at 0.481, with Carlos Sainz as the best Ferrari in 5th place at 0.627. In the preview, the Ferraris and the McLarens are the favorites after their battle for victory at Monza on a circuit that suits both cars. However, Red Bull started to surprise and we need to see how everyone’s time improves to understand if McLaren and Ferrari should continue to be favorites for pole on a track where Hamilton also started on the right foot.

Charles Leclerc had a bad start in Baku, a track where he crashed into the wall several times. He tried the starting barriers again with a frontal touch against the outside wall of turn 15, although the Monegasque has already shown that he usually regains all his confidence after actions like this and that should not be a problem for fourth consecutive pole. on this route, which is very good at turning.

Colapinto also had an accident, at turn 4, when he lost the rear end of his car on the exit. It’s a very difficult track for a rookie like him, living in his second F1 career. He has a complex role and has to gradually build his confidence from it.

Alonso, 7th, good start

Fernando Alonso started the weekend in 7th. Unlike Monza, he hopes that this track will be more suited to the characteristics of his Aston Martin to once again aim to enter Q3, among the top 10 within a lap, and fight for points on Sunday, the day where his car. It tends to melt due to its lower aerodynamic grip, which causes more tires and lower racing speeds. Alonso needs to keep fighting here, and for that, being able to maximize his car in ‘quality’ at a time will be key again. He started off on the right foot in that sense, with 7th place behind Piastri’s McLaren, who was 6th by 0.736 with Alonso 0.9 ahead, just ahead of Russell, who was 8th, and Leclerc, 9th his re-attempt with the soft.