Verstappen finds a positive but Red Bull balance still a concern

Max Verstappen was again left bemoaning the balance of his Red Bull after Friday practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – although there were also many positive signs.

Verstappen left Monza after a torrid Italian Grand Prix week describing his car as “a monster”, failing to understand how Red Bull could have strayed so far from its path of dominance over the past two years, and even from the early races of this season.

The three-time F1 champion at least appeared competitive over the two hour-long sessions, albeit the first was shortened by 21 minutes due to three red-flag periods, including a crash involving Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

It was Leclerc, however, who topped the timesheet at the end of FP2 following a resolution to his car he had initially described as “bent” over the radio, ultimately opting to stop driving despite the fact his team could not find any issue in the data.

Verstappen finished only sixth quickest, 0.545s behind Leclerc, and half-a-second adrift of team-mate Sergio Perez, a two-time winner at the Baku Street Circuit, and who again appeared to find his mojo after a difficult run of results.

“I think overall we had a good day,” said Verstappen. “We learned a few things. Now we have to look back at what we tried.

“But so far it seems like we are more competitive this weekend, so that’s positive.”

Verstappen did complain over the radio at times about understeer, and there was also a moment in FP2 when he was inches from running into a barrier after a lock-up.

With the car known to suffer from a disconnected balance from front to rear, Verstappen added: “It’s very slippery and there are a lot of 90-degree corners. Sometimes you keep the brakes on as a precaution to avoid hitting the wall.

“Of course, FP2 was a bit more difficult for me. We need to get the balance a bit better and then I’m sure we can be competitive.”