Red Bull explain Max Verstappen Isack Hadjar Baku tactics after radio messages

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has explained why he did not order Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar to swap positions in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix despite the clear tyre issues affecting the four-time F1 champion.

From eighth on the grid, and with a fresh power unit from the pool in his RB22, Verstappen made up five places by the start of lap six as he scythed his way past Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton in his Ferrari, the McLaren of Lando Norris, the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, and team-mate Hadjar.

Next in line, McLaren's Oscar Piastri, proved a step too far, however, for Verstappen, who, instead, found himself with a seemingly quicker Hadjar directly behind him as the lap ticked by, given their offset in tyres, as the Dutchman was on the medium whilst the Frenchman was on the softs, which ultimately proved to be the better race tyre.

At times, Hadjar radioed across to indicate that he had pace, even asking at one stage whether Verstappen was struggling. He was told that he was "going through a bad phase with the tyres".

Instead of allowing Hadjar to attack Piastri, Red Bull opted to hold station with their drivers, hoping for a safety car that eventually arrived after 30 laps when Alex Albon buried his Williams in a barrier between Turns 5 & 6.

"We looked at all these scenarios, honestly, and we elected to hold the cars in that position," said Mekies, speaking to Sky Sports F1.

"We felt it was the best chance to get a chance [overtaking] at Piastri and at [George] Russell. It's very difficult here to not count on a safety car at some stage. We were all waiting for the safety car.

"Max was struggling with the medium at that stage, and we knew that on the soft we would have a better chance, and ultimately that's what happened."

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Verstappen 'flying all weekend'

Through two safety car periods, Verstappen found himself in a position to hound Mercedes' Russell for the win, finishing just 0.196s adrift at the line after 51 laps, whilst Hadjar was third for his second podium of the year.

"We were missing one tenth, but we got the chance to fight with him [Russell] and to show we had the same pace," remarked Mekies, who felt that Verstappen was "flying all weekend".

"He was very, very strong," he added. "It was probably our strongest weekend. It was good to have the cars P2 and P3 on merit. Huge well done to everybody back in Milton Keynes.

"We had our upgrades here. It was massive work from everybody, chassis and PU side, to extract more out of the package.

"It felt very far away at the beginning of the season when the [other] guys were lapping a second faster than us, and we are in that fight now, so big well done to everyone."