Max Verstappen insisted he lost "too much tyre temperature" when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, meaning the Red Bull Racing driver couldn't get back to speed as quickly as his rivals.
Pierre Gasly, Verstappen's team-mate, had a technical issue and was forced to retire early from the eventful race, meaning the VSC was called upon for a brief period, something the Dutchman struggled with.
"In general, we had a good race," Verstappen said in Red Bull's Azerbaijan Grand Prix debrief. "I always had the Mercedes and Ferrari in sight and I was just trying to close the gap.
"At the start, I was blocked and couldn't really brake deep into the corner, which allowed (Sergio) Perez to get past me. Of course, that lost me a bit of ground but you don't want to risk everything on Lap 1."
Verstappen managed a fourth-place finish in Baku, finishing behind the two Mercedes' and Sebastian Vettel - who completed the podium.
"Once I got back past, we went a little bit longer than the others on the soft tyre and I had a good feeling with the car," the 21-year-old continued. "We had good pace, especially on the medium tyre in the second stint where I closed the gap by seven or eight seconds.
"With the Virtual Safety Car, I think I lost too much tyre temperature and I couldn't get it back as quickly as the others. Around here, tyre temperature is key and you end up sliding a lot more with low temperatures so it wasn't worth risking the position in the final laps."