'Mercedes could have tried to protest Pérez out of the race'

Red Bull Racing and Mercedes have been at loggerheads over the wings in recent weeks. While the German team claimed that Red Bull's rear wing did not comply with the regulations, the team of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez had comments about Mercedes' front wing.

Surprisingly, during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, this discussion was hardly present anymore and it was mainly about the race. "It is strange of course. It was a point for a while and there were some skirmishes between Christian Horner and Toto Wolff ", Kees van de Grint at RTL Slipstream commented. "Wolff didn't protest in the end, even though it was in his interest. He could of course have tried to protest Pérez out of the race."

Mercedes ultimately did not do so and decided to focus primarily on the race weekend. "That also says something about the mentality. It's mostly a lot of shouting," said Van de Grint, who agrees that the discussion will most likely return to France at the end of June.

Neither Red Bull nor Mercedes had a perfect weekend. Verstappen had to leave the track early on behalf of Red Bull due to a flat rear tyre, while Lewis Hamilton made a big mistake and finished without any points.