Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen heads to this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix buoyed by a last-to-first karting victory and hoping to carry that momentum into his first Formula One win of the season.
The Dutchman needed just 14 laps and 35 minutes to charge through a field of 100 competitors at Red Bull’s “Max vs. 100” karting challenge at Silverstone in Britain last week.
While the exhibition event was little more than a bit of fun for the 71-time grand prix winner, Verstappen jokingly noted that it was his first victory of the season.
He will now look to turn that momentum into a Formula One triumph. Verstappen has claimed six podium finishes this year, including four in the last five races, and finished second in Madrid.
Baku’s unforgiving street circuit could provide an opportunity for Verstappen to end his victory drought and become the first driver to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix three times.
“Madrid was a good result for us and the team has been working hard on taking this positive momentum to make sure we maximize the performance of the car in Baku,” said the 28-year-old.
“We’ve made some good steps with the car over the last few races and we have some good memories here,” he added.
The Baku street track, a 6.003-kilometer mix of flat-out blasts and tight corners, has a reputation for unpredictable races.
Seven different drivers have won the nine previous races at the venue, with Verstappen and former Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez the only two to have won there more than once.
With safety cars a regular feature of the race, Verstappen’s victory hopes may well rest on Red Bull’s ability to take on the might of Mercedes. The team’s runaway championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, heads into the weekend seeking a third straight win and ninth of the season.
The 20-year-old Italian, who won his home race at Monza from the back of the grid and followed that with victory in the Spanish Grand Prix at Madring, is 81 points clear of British teammate George Russell, his closest title rival, after 14 rounds.
Russell and third-placed Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton have both ruled themselves out of realistic title contention.
A win in Baku would further strengthen Antonelli’s grip on the championship and move his prospects of becoming the first Italian to win a Formula One title since Alberto Ascari in 1953 closer to reality.
McLaren’s reigning champion Lando Norris, meanwhile, will be fired up to make up for the win that got away from him.
The Briton had been leading comfortably from pole in Madrid and seemed on course for his third win in four races when an ill-timed virtual safety car went against him. He eventually had to settle for third.
French racer Isack Hadjar will return to action alongside Verstappen after recovering from a wrist injury that sidelined him for the last three races. Yuki Tsunoda is set to return to his reserve role.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the first race of a triple-header on consecutive weekends, will be held Saturday this year, with Azerbaijan observing Remembrance Day on Sunday. The entire Formula One weekend has been moved forward by one day to avoid the national observance.
Organizers are also marking a decade of Formula One racing in Baku. The race joined the calendar in 2016 as the European Grand Prix before being renamed the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017. This year’s event will be the 10th Formula One race around the Baku street circuit, with the event absent from the calendar in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
