When Max Verstappen walked into the Red Bull hospitality on Friday for his Dutch Formula 1 media session – which in Azerbaijan, incidentally, consisted of just two Dutch journalists – the message was clear. The Baku City Circuit offered Red Bull its best opportunity to win a race this year, but Verstappen added: "We’ve done a great job messing it up."
A day later, he still came remarkably close to victory. Admittedly, he felt the gap of just 0.196 seconds at the finish line was somewhat misleading due to Valtteri Bottas' crash and George Russell's boost issue, but Red Bull's race pace was undeniably good – particularly on the softs.
