The Red Bull F1 team dominated the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen crossing the line ahead of Sergio Perez to clinch another 1-2 for the team. But it was the Mexican driver who started the race well and led at the start. Despite that, the reigning world champion slowly asserted his dominance in the race and eventually passed his teammate to take the lead.
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Former world champion Mika Hakkinen mentioned that Verstappen had to thank Checo for the win. He said, “Max has Checo to thank for the win, in my opinion, not only in accepting the team’s strategy but also in having a 5 second pit stop at a key moment in the race. Red Bull really does have the benefit of two strong winners in their team, while Ferrari is suffering with Carlos Sainz Jr having a lot of poor luck as well as unable to match the pace of Charles.”
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There is one person who might not agree with the assessment of the former world champion. That is the father of Max Verstappen.
Jos Verstappen praises his son Max after his win in Baku
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The former F1 driver took to his column to praise his son’s performance in Baku. Jos revealed that a challenged Max Verstappen is an even better version of the Red Bull driver.
“You could see Max was very motivated. That had of course to do with the previous race in Monaco, but he doesn’t really let it get to him. I think that’s very beautiful, it only makes him better. A challenged Max is an even better Max,” wrote Jos.
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It is certainly interesting to hear 2 different variations of the performance displayed by the Red Bull driver. But it was certainly a master class at the front of the grid from the world champion.