F1 | Red Bull: how total trust in Verstappen drives the team’s boldest decisions

Monza and Baku represented two key opportunities for Red Bull, and the team capitalized on both. These victories highlight not just Verstappen’s raw speed on track, but also the influence he wields over certain strategic decisions. This approach reflects the team’s deep trust in the Dutch driver.

Both Monza and Baku were pivotal races for Red Bull, circuits well-suited to the RB21’s strengths and less favorable to the McLaren MCL39. In both events, the Milton Keynes squad executed perfectly, maximizing the car’s potential while making, when necessary, bold and sometimes borderline strategic choices.

Just like in Monza, Max Verstappen asserted his dominance in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, demonstrating his authority from Saturday onwards. It wasn’t just about raw speed—he had an objectively competitive package—but his ability to translate the RB21’s potential into results, seizing pole position on a day marked by competitors’ errors, made the difference.

This is precisely the strength Verstappen brings to Red Bull. In a 24-race season, perfection is unattainable. Even the four-time world champion has made occasional mistakes, sometimes dictated by context, but the key takeaway is the confidence he instills in the team and the confidence the team places in him, knowing they can rely on a champion capable of making a decisive impact.

Strategic decisions guided by Verstappen

This confidence was evident in several of Red Bull’s choices during the season. One example is the ultra-low-downforce wing brought to Silverstone, the team’s only tool for pursuing pole. But there are more instances: in the last two Grands Prix alone, situations arose that demonstrate the team’s trust in Max Verstappen’s input.

At Monza, Max Verstappen himself pushed to further reduce rear wing drag just before qualifying, opting for a sharply cut, aggressive DRS flap with minimal available data. It was an extreme choice, aimed at securing pole and keeping the McLaren challenge alive. The last-minute adjustment, strongly requested by Verstappen despite some engineers’ reservations, including DT Pierre Waché, was applied only to the Dutchman’s car. The decision paid off, yielding pole position thanks to the extra speed gained on the straights.

While Max Verstappen’s race dominance ultimately exceeded expectations, the wing choice must be seen in light of the uncertainty the team faced before qualifying, trusting Verstappen’s judgment and his ability to push the car to the limit. The real magic was in the pace maintained through the corners, a factor highlighted by Team Principal Laurent Mekies and consultant Helmut Marko at the end of the GP, explaining the logic behind their decisions.

Trust reflected in Baku strategy

A similar dynamic occurred in Baku, though in a different form: it was about strategy rather than setup. Laurent Mekies explained how Max Verstappen was the driving force behind the tactical choice to start on hard tires, an option informed by the lesson learned at Monza.

“We looked at Saturday’s qualifying with six or seven red flags. Clearly, there is a long history of many Safety Cars here. Max had a very clear idea: it would be a race where you drive while waiting for the Safety Car. You try to hold out as long as possible until it arrives, because otherwise someone will get a free pit stop and it won’t be you,” Mekies said after the race.

On paper, Max Verstappen might have been expected to start on the medium tires. Instead, he pushed for the harder compound—and for multiple reasons. The gap between the grid and the first corner is among the shortest in the calendar: extra grip from softer tires can help, but isn’t as decisive here. Moreover, the hard tire choice for Baku was a C4, relatively soft in Pirelli’s range, reducing warm-up times.

Considering a potential pace advantage over the Williams in second and the ability to recover positions lost at the start, Verstappen opted for the tire that provided more strategic flexibility, drawing on Monza experience. In that race, the McLarens extended their stint, hoping a red flag or Safety Car could reset the competition.

Expecting a Safety Car later in the race, Max Verstappen pushed for a less conventional tactic, designed to cover a broader range of scenarios. “In a sense, Monza was like that too, where everyone tried to extend their stint and we had to stop because we were at the limit with the tires. At that moment, we were exposed for a few laps to a Safety Car. Max wanted to avoid a similar scenario here in Baku and pushed hard for this [hard tire choice],” Mekies explained.

Certain factors made the strategy more manageable than at other circuits, such as the short distance to the first braking zone and the fact that the main rivals were already far back on the grid. Yet it wasn’t risk-free: an early Safety Car in the first 10–15 laps could have complicated matters. “It wasn’t a free, riskless choice: it exposes you in other parts of the race. If a Safety Car comes out on lap 10, you won’t be happy if you started on hards,” Laurent Mekies added.

In a one-stop race scenario, options would have been to pit for a set of medium tires and complete roughly forty laps, feasible but challenging, or continue on hards then switch to medium, risking a DRS train. Verstappen’s push ultimately paid off, even if it wasn’t decisive for the win. More importantly, it demonstrated the team’s trust in Verstappen and his added value—a confidence that not every team displays. Two victories that may not dramatically boost his title chances still position Max as a key arbiter in the championship battle against the two McLaren cars.