BAKU.- Lando Norris is just one of the problems of Max Verstappen before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The other is his own vehicle.
Verstappen needs to tame his car, which he has called “monstrous”, to leave Norris behind and defend his Formula 1 title, at the same time that the dominance of Red Bull in the top flight is coming to an end.
The Dutchman and Red Bull are winless in six races before Sunday’s GP in Baku.
Norris is McLaren’s favourite over teammate Oscar Piastri but will likely need Verstappen and Red Bull to continue to stumble if he is to reduce the Dutchman’s 62-point lead with eight races remaining in the campaign.
The race is closer in the constructors’ standings. McLaren remains eight points behind Red Bull and could overtake them after the Azerbaijan race.
“Everything is up for grabs,” Red Bull boss Christian Horner admitted on Friday. “It just takes a couple of bad weekends and Lando having a good weekend and everything will be more closed.”
In addition, new rivals for Red Bull are emerging from within the team’s ranks.
The departure of the team’s designer, Adrian Newey, to sign with Aston Martin is a sign of the ambitions of the team owned by billionaire Lawrence Stroll.
Considered “the team of the future” by its driver Fernando Alonso, they have their sights set on designing a car that can take advantage of the new regulations for 2026 — as Newey did with Red Bull in 2022.
Another key member of Christian Horner’s Red Bull team, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, will leave at the end of the season and join Audi, which will debut in 2026.
PRACTICE
Red Bull showed signs of improvement in Baku. Verstappen set the fastest time in Friday’s first practice and Sergio Perez was third. But crashes involving Williams’ Charles Leclerc and Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto brought out the red flag, limiting track time.
Verstappen was 0.313 seconds faster than Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, with Perez 0.063 seconds behind. Norris was fourth and Piastri sixth.
Leclerc was fastest in second practice, 0.006 seconds behind Perez, and Hamilton was third, 0.066 seconds behind. Verstappen was sixth.
YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
British teenager Oliver Bearman returns to the grid for Haas in Baku, replacing the suspended Kevin Magnussen, who will miss one race for accumulating too many penalty points in the series.
Bearman, who was seventh for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia in March, will replace Hamilton at Mercedes next season. Bearman was 11th and 10th in the two practices.
Another F2 driver will set F1 alight. Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams last month and finished 12th on his debut in Italy. A top 10 finish will see him become the first Argentine to score points since 1982.
