Who does Verstappen have most to fear from in Baku? 'I have no idea'

Max Verstappen is the favourite in Azerbaijan, but the Dutchman thinks it is going to be tough enough next weekend. With two qualifying and two races on the narrow street circuit in Baku, a mistake is in a small corner. Moreover, there is only one free practice to tune the car, so Verstappen will have some work to do.

Asked by GPblog who Red Bull's biggest rival will be in Azerbaijan, Verstappen said: "It's difficult to say at the moment, I have no clue. This is quite a bit of a different street circuit compared to the other ones we've been to so far. A few changes to the track as well and then with the whole sprint format it's going to be quite hectic and difficult to nail the car after FP1."

So far this year, there has always been an RB19 on the first starting spot. Red Bull is not only good on Sunday, but also on Saturday. Yet the differences with Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin in qualifying are a lot smaller. "So yeah, I don't know. I think in general in qualifying it's been quite close so far and in the race sometimes we had a bit of a bigger gap so we know that qualifying is quite important around here and I expect it to be a close one," Verstappen said, who does not dare to point out a biggest rival.

Red Bull expects to be strong

On his own website, the Limburger went on to say, "Normally things should go well for us here in Azerbaijan. But with it being a sprint race weekend, there are some question marks. Because we only have one free practice, it could also go wrong. It's definitely trickier. It's not just about top speed here but also getting through the many right-angled corners properly. You need a strong front end for that. I think the RB19 will be strong here."

By the way, Verstappen does not understand that in qualifying for the sprint race (the sprint shootout), why did the FIA decide that drivers should use displacement medium, medium and then soft tyres only in Q3, respectively. "I don't understand why it has to be medium-medium-soft. I think this is going to cause chaos. But it's the same for everyone. It will be a bit more difficult to warm up the tyres in Q1 and Q2, but it is how it is."