“I don't understand why it has to take so long?": Max Verstappen blasts FIA’s decision of late VSC amid Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz’s crash

The crash between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz on lap 50 at Baku surprised the entire grid. However, FIA's delayed decision to deploy the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) added to the frustration of several drivers, including Max Verstappen.

The race weekend in Azerbaijan has been hectic for Verstappen. With the setup of his RB20 race car not favoring the Dutchman's driving style, he struggled to keep up with the likes of both the McLarens and Ferraris. Further adding to Verstappen's woes was the fact that he was out-qualified by his Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez (the former finished P6 while the latter ended the session in P4).

Even throughout the race on Sunday, 15th September, the reigning triple-world champion was unable to make progress on both the medium and hard compound tires. On top of an already disappointing weekend, Verstappen was irked by the fact that FIA took over a minute to deploy the VSC after Sainz and Perez crashed on the wall ahead of turn three on Lap 50.

During a post-race interaction with the media, the 26-year-old Red Bull Racing driver expressed his frustrations.

"You should have sent out a safety car straight away. I don't understand. I mean, there's two cars full in the wall. I don't understand why it has to take so long. And then there's double yellow. Why double? Just deploy a safety car! Nothing is going to happen. The track is completely blocked, everywhere is dirt and there is damage. Why a virtual safety car, would have just deployed a safety car," Verstappen said.

Apart from the Dutchman, Mercedes-AMG racer George Russell also shared a similar view after the race.

"Driving full gas into a wall of carbon fiber on the penultimate lap. I mean, that was pretty crazy. The sun was coming down. You couldn't see anything. I was shocked the Safety Car or VSC didn't come out sooner," He said.

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"My wheels were literally coming off the ground," - Max Verstappen complains about the car's setup during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Max Verstappen had a weekend to forget in Azerbaijan. He was not happy with the overall setup of his RB20 car on the streets of Baku.

Verstappen had to endure a tough race on Sunday. He was largely stuck behind Alex Albon, Lando Norris, and George Russell throughout the race. The Dutchman was unable to extract top performance out of his Red Bull Racing car. He explained the struggle during a post-race media interaction.

"(Car) was jumping around a lot in all the low-speed corners. My wheels were literally coming off the ground. Then of course you lose contact patch with the tarmac which you don’t want. That then caused me to slide a lot more, overheat the tyres more and there was no way to drive around it so the pace was just a bit all over the place," Verstappen said.

Despite a fifth-place finish, the reigning world champion is optimistic of the team coming good soon. With seven races to go, he is still leading the championship, ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.