Red Bull boss pinpoints major 'feedback' from Max Verstappen 'masterclass'

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has pinpointed the major learning the outfit has discovered following Max Verstappen's "masterclass" in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 

The four-time F1 champion secured pole position by four-tenths of a second in challenging conditions, before converting it into an easy victory at the Baku City Circuit. 

It marked back-to-back wins for the first time in 15 months for Verstappen, who is now only 69 points adrift of Oscar Piastri after the Australian crashed on the opening lap. 

Verstappen's comfortable win further highlighted the significant progress Red Bull has made with the RB21 since introducing a new floor for the Italian GP earlier this month. 

The Milton Keynes-based squad appears to have eaten into McLaren's pace advantage, increasing Red Bull's confidence after performing strongly at two different circuits.

"What to say?" began Mekies to Sky Sports F1. "As you say, such a masterclass in qualifying yesterday, a huge gap in super difficult conditions with the wind blowing at 60kph.

"And today, it was difficult to estimate what the race pace would be. Nobody really did long-run work on Friday. He [Max] just pulled away lap after lap. 

"So, we knew after Monza, Monza is so specific, it was not clear how much of the progress we could bring on a track like here.

"So, it's good feedback for everyone who has been pushing so hard at Milton Keynes to get the car faster. 

"We know Baku is also very specific with only slow-speed corners. But certainly, it's two tracks in a row where at least we had the pace to fight."