Max Verstappen ‘paid the price’ for Azerbaijan F1 set-up changes

Max Verstappen ‘paid the price’ for Azerbaijan F1 set-up changes
Verstappen struggled to fifth place in Azerbaijan.

Max Verstappen has admitted that he “paid the price” in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for set-up modifications to his Red Bull Formula 1 car that made it “difficult to drive”.

Verstappen sustained a rare subdued outing in Baku as he was unable to provide a match to the pace that Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez could extract in the RB20.

As Perez was situated at the sharp end with the leading Ferrari and McLaren cars throughout the race, Verstappen struggled and was never within podium contention.

The Dutchman even lost out to title rival Lando Norris, who started 11 places behind him, and was on track to end up seventh until Perez and Carlos Sainz’s late clash.

However, Verstappen adopted a calm demeanour as he declined that the team was to blame, citing that he had authorised the last-minute tweaks to be implemented.

Asked how much input he had in the changes that proved to unravel his weekend, Verstappen replied: “Yeah, our side. I mean, you know, you win and lose as a team.

“We thought it would be a good direction to go into and, in the end, it wasn’t.”

Verstappen admits points loss could have been worse
Verstappen surrendering to a late-charging Norris in the closing exchanges saw him spurn another three points to his championship lead, with the gap now 59 points.