For the second race in a row, Max Verstappen was beaten in qualifying by Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, this time the Mexican was quicker in Baku as the Formula 1 World Champion admitted he did not find the right balance in the RB18, on Saturday.
With Charles Leclerc on pole, this year's top three F1 title contenders fill the top three spots on the grid for Sunday's 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Verstappen third on the grid behind his Ferrari rival in the top spot, with Perez in P2.
After the tricky session, Verstappen reported: "I think the start of the lap was good then it went away from me a little bit. Tiny mistakes but in general just struggling a bit to find front to rear balance over one lap so not of course what I want but still as a team in second and third we have a good opportunity for the race.
"I think, overall, we seem to lack a tiny bit over one lap but clearly our car should normally be quite good."
“You always take quite a lot of risk and push the car to the limit on a street circuit, but you also have to be happy with the balance of the car and I didn’t have that. It was difficult to find a good balance here, which means we’re lacking consistency in how you approach your lap."
Verstappen: Past races in Baku have shown that a lot of things can happen
The Dutch ace continued: "There’s still quite a bit of work to do. Looking ahead, the run into turn one is very short but it’s a long race, let’s see what we can do.
"Ferrari put in some really quick laps and it looks like they have a good pace, let’s hope we can put some good pressure on them.
"Past races in Baku have shown that a lot of things can happen, we just need to stay calm and focus on having a good race," ventured Verstappen, who leads the 2022 F1 Championship standings after seven rounds.
A planned slipstream with Verstappen and Perez did not materialise, which may have impacted the result had it not failed, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner explained: "It’s always tricky to navigate through the sessions here with plenty of incidents and yellow flags, but both drivers extracted every last bit out of the car in their Q3 runs.
"Checo had a small issue whilst refuelling before Q3 that caused him to be slightly out of sequence but again, a very strong, clean lap from him to put him second on the grid, with Max incredibly close behind.
"Ferrari had a slight advantage over a single lap but we’re right up there in second and third on a track you can overtake on, so it should be an exciting race," predicted Horner.
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