Max Verstappen blames it on the VSC and the hyper-sensitivity of his RB15 to tyre temperatures, as he lost a potential podium chance earlier in the race in Baku. The Dutchman qualified fourth and crossed the line in the same position, although his race pace was allowing him to recover.

"I was catching up seven/eight seconds over that stint, so that was all good, but as soon as we got to the virtual safety car, I lost a lot of temperature. It seems like our car is a maybe a bit more sensitive to that, or we're just not on top of the tyres. I don't know - otherwise we would've of course fixed that.” Verstappen said.

One of the most largely shared complaints over the weekend was the slippery asphalt, resulting in extremely low grip. Therefore, Verstappen does not fully promote the Baku track, as the teams did not manage to get a better understanding of track conditions. In fact, many struggled in either of the stints, especially with tyre temperatures and the tricky asphalt. "It was a lot more difficult after that, I was just sliding a lot, and around here if you don't have the grip, you can't take the risk into the corner and you lose a lot of laptime."

"I think it's just something on this track where it's already very slippery, it seems like we are just not on top of it yet" said Verstappen.

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