Verstappen praises Red Bull’s ‘incredible pace’ but admits to ‘luck’

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has admitted that there was an element of luck to his easy victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen clinched a dominant victory in Baku on Sunday, coming home 20 seconds clear of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez as the pair controlled proceedings after two separate mechanical failures took Ferrari out of the race.

Verstappen rose from third on the grid to pass Perez on track after Charles Leclerc’s retirement, before sprinting clear throughout the second half of the race.

Having retired from the lead after a tyre failure five laps from the finish last year, Verstappen was overjoyed to have banished the memories of that race.

“You can never make up what you lost last year, but I think today we had an incredible pace in the car,” he told Sky F1 after crossing the line to open up a 34-point gap to Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship and 21 points clear of Perez with the Red Bull drivers now first and second.

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“We could really look after the tyres, and we could chip away at it, [and] pass for the lead.”

Verstappen admitted he’d felt a little bit lucky to have circumstances fall into his lap, as Ferrari’s aggressive pit strategy