A Friday to forget for Red Bull in Baku
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo suffered a mechanical breakdown and a collision with the wall during the first free practice session of the European Grand Prix. Not an ideal situation for the two Red Bull drivers as they take on a new track.
During FP1, Daniel Ricciardo was the first to be violently caught out by the narrow circuit laid out in the city of Baku. The Red Bull driver had to abandon his car after hitting the wall at turn number 15. Intervening at the end of the session, his mechanics nonetheless managed to get the car back on track for FP2.
The Australian is also grateful to his team for the speed of the work done on his car: « The guys really did a great job to allow me to be present at the second free practice session. So I’d really like to thank them for that. »
On the nature of the track, Ricciardo also has a very clear opinion: « As I was able to demonstrate this morning, some corners are a real challenge and it doesn’t make the task easy. We have quite a bit of time to think during the straights, which is not bad since some corners are technical and require us to be focused. If you want to be fast on a city circuit, you need to find the limits and be close to the walls. »
He also discusses the circumstances of his accident at the end of FP1: « I didn’t brake too late. I just pressed the brakes too quickly and wanted to carry too much speed into the corner… there wasn’t really an issue with the apex, but when the car hit at the rear, it caused a lot of damage. »
Max Verstappen, on the other hand, experienced a mechanical issue with his car right at the start of FP1, which deprived him of valuable track time on a new circuit: « It’s really a shame that we couldn’t do more during FP1. If you don’t do many laps in the first session, you lose a lot of time on setup. From a driver’s point of view, it’s important to do a lot of laps to feel more comfortable. »
The second free practice session was not really better than the first, according to the Dutchman: “The second session was not really perfect for us, we still have a lot of work to do but I’m not worried.”
The new Red Bull prodigy also discusses the nature of the track as well as the potential dangers posed by the curbs and the pit exit: « The track is very slippery, and you arrive with a lot of speed on heavy braking zones, which is quite challenging especially since it’s very tight in some areas, you have to stay focused. You need to be careful with the run-off areas as well because you can get stuck. The track is quite enjoyable even though some curbs come loose. We need to discuss this with the FIA and also the pit exit, which is not ideal. Maybe we should widen it. »
