Verstappen and Horner hint at why Perez was more competitive at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

While the box score won’t tell the whole story, Sergio Perez was the dominant Red Bull at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix — at least until a last-lap crash with Carlos Sainz Jr. ended his day and killed his chance at scoring critical points for his team.

But how did that happen? How did Perez — the driver not fighting to defend his lead of the 2024 Formula 1 championship — end up quicker than his teammate? Max Verstappen and Christian Horner think they might have an answer.

Sergio Perez found the right set-up for the Azerbaijan GP

Of the two Red Bull Racing drivers, Sergio Perez has been the one firmly on the back foot for the majority of the 2024 Formula 1 season — but the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a different story. The Mexican racer was quick in both qualifying and the race, and outperformed teammate Max Verstappen until the final moment.

Perez qualified fourth to Verstappen’s sixth and ran a majority of the race battling for the podium as Verstappen struggled. Unfortunately, the race ended in tears as Perez and Sainz made contact just before the end of the race.

But what made Perez such a force to be reckoned with? Max Verstappen has an answer.

“For me of course it was quite a difficult race,” the championship leader told Sky F1 after the race.

“Honestly, already in qualifying, I didn’t feel like the final changes that we did in qualifying was the right way, and I think we just paid the price for that.

“It’s probably as simple as that because if you look at Checo, he had a much better race. It seemed like he was more comfortable.”

Verstappen, meanwhile, had been reporting issues with both balance and with feeling as if his tires weren’t making adequate contact with the tarmac.

“From our side, we tried something else with the setup going into qualifying, and then it didn’t work out,” Verstappen reflected.

“You win or lose as a team. I wasn’t all happy with this performance.

“But at the other end, sometimes it works out great. You make some final changes before qualifying, and it puts the car together. Unfortunately, this time, it didn’t.”

More on Red Bull’s Azerbaijan weekend:

👉 FIA reveal Max Verstappen and McLaren verdicts after investigating Baku incidents

👉 Dramatic Sergio Perez/Carlos Sainz crash verdict following FIA stewards investigation in Azerbaijan

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner agreed with that sentiment, saying of Perez, “I think he found a good rhythm and set-up.

“Checo’s car was very quick today,” he continued.

“I think we might have introduced some things with Max’s car that didn’t work as well, and I think we probably damaged the tires quite a lot fighting in that group for such a long period of time.

“If you look at George Russell’s stint, he starts it very, very slowly and then just builds into it and has a better tire at the end.”

Verstappen ultimately finished the race in fifth position thanks to Perez and Sainz wiping each other out — but the day could have been much better for Red Bull.

As a result of the challenging weekend for Red Bull, McLaren has assumed the lead of the World Constructors’ Championship — and Lando Norris is still nipping at Verstappen’s heels for the drivers’ title.

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