Max Verstappen avoided attributing his victory in Baku to the retirement of rival Charles Leclerc and praised the balance of the Red Bull car in this Sunday's race
Max Verstappen saw his pole-position in Baku slip away due to some small mistakes in qualifying. The expectation for the race on Sunday (12), however, was good, even struggling with the balance. And the victory not only came, but the Dutchman even saw his main rival in the fight for the title, Charles Leclerc, abandon again with Ferrari engine problems.
The victory comes as a redemption for Verstappen after dropping out in Baku last year. This, incidentally, was the first time the Red Bull driver crossed the finish line first at the circuit, which has not repeated winners since the first edition in 2017.
"You can never recover what you lost in the past, but I think today the pace of the car was incredible," said the World Cup leader after the race. "We were able to take care of the tires, overcoming that and taking the lead," he added.
With his fifth win in eight races contested, Verstappen now heads to Canada with a 21-point lead at the top, but he preferred not to attribute the result in Baku entirely to luck. "Maybe I was a bit lucky with [Leclerc's] withdrawal, but still, the car was too fast for us to close that gap, so the race is in your hands," he stressed.
"Overall, I'm very happy with the balance of the car today," Verstappen finished.