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Max Verstappen appears to be ready to return to top form and achieve success in the upcoming races. Despite maintaining a commanding lead in the championship, recent struggles over the past few races have raised concerns among Red Bull fans, who are uncertain about what to expect from the Dutch driver. However, if the start of the weekend is any indication, the 26-year-old could be poised for a successful performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen set the fastest time in the first free practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, held on the streets of Baku. The session was marked by two collisions with barriers: the first involved Charles Leclerc and the second saw Franco Colapinto crash into the wall.
Leclerc, who achieved success in the previous race, appears to be facing challenges this time around. On the other hand, Colapinto had a less-than-stellar start and will need to make improvements in the coming sessions to turn things around.
Verstappen completed his fastest lap, which was three-tenths of a second quicker than Lewis Hamilton’s best time. His Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, finished third. Perez is the only multiple winner at this circuit, and Red Bull is hoping to end their winless streak since the Austrian sprint race, with high hopes pinned on the new upgrades brought to Azerbaijan.
The Austrian team has been a dominant force in Formula 1 for years, and this season has further demonstrated their potential to achieve great things. Red Bull continues to lead, as mentioned, but the question remains how long they can maintain this lead and ultimately secure success by the end of the season.
Lando Norris ended up in fourth place, with Carlos Sainz slotting in between Norris and his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri.
McLaren has shown their ambition this season, with Lando Norris particularly motivated to chase Max Verstappen until the final race and attempt to dethrone him. While it may seem like a tough challenge, it will be interesting to see what the upcoming races bring. The young British driver has demonstrated his quality and potential, making this plan all the more exciting.
Fernando Alonso finished seventh, George Russell eighth, and Leclerc ninth despite missing half of the session due to his crash. The Monegasque was the first driver over a second behind and, being the only one in the top 10 with a medium tire time, did not set a lap on the softs.
Daniel Ricciardo was tenth in his RB car, followed by two Haases; Oliver Bearman, making his full race weekend debut as a replacement for the suspended Kevin Magnussen, finished ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. Lance Stroll, who commented that his car "at the moment is not a car," ended up in 13th place. Esteban Ocon, who managed only three laps due to a power unit issue, was the last.
The session saw a total of three red flags: the first for debris on the track, the second when Leclerc missed the braking point for Turn 15 and crashed 33 minutes before the end, and the last major incident involved Colapinto, who lost the rear end in Turn 4 and then hit the wall with both the rear and front ends 18 minutes before the session concluded.
The second practice session is scheduled to start at 3 PM.
It will be interesting to see what we can expect from the second practice session. Red Bull is highly motivated to secure a victory this time and alleviate the current pressure they are under. The Austrian team is determined to avoid repeating the mistakes from recent races and stresses that Verstappen has the potential to break the streak of poor results that has lasted for a few races now.
Sergio Perez expects positive things
Helmut Marko, a key figure at Red Bull, has pointed out that the next two races could be a major challenge for the team. On the other hand, Sergio Perez has a more optimistic view. He believes these races could be a turning point, offering Red Bull a chance to succeed. Perez is hopeful that this race will kick off a series of strong performances for the team in the near future.
"I think at the moment with the current package we have, these two should be our best tracks to coming up, [in terms of] races should be our best ones. So I do expect us to look more competitive here. But if we are able to fix the issue, then we can get back to contention. Because it's something that can bring a lot of lap time to us," -Sergio Perez said.
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