Formula 1 News: Verstappen hits out at Pirelli’s Baku tire choice

(GMM) Max Verstappen (pictured on C6 tire) has blasted Pirelli’s choice of the C6 soft for Baku, insisting the compound is “slower from the start of the lap” and “just an inferior tire”.

“That soft tire is slower from the start of the lap,” the four-time world champion said after securing pole on Saturday.

“It’s just an inferior tire. I’d like to talk to Pirelli sometime, so they can leave that one at home.”

The Red Bull driver pointed out this isn’t just a Baku issue – the softest compound also flopped in Monaco, Imola, Montreal – street circuits and low-wear tracks where it should excel.

“That tire didn’t really work anywhere,” he said, “so it’s better to leave it at home.”

Pirelli brought the softest trio for Baku, with C6 returning as soft after being used at Imola, Monaco and Montreal. The move was intended to increase strategy variety beyond a one-stop race on a circuit that traditionally causes low tire degradation.

Still, Verstappen said the soft tire gives “absolutely no references,” which undermines setup work and complicates qualifying and race simulations.

“We don’t have to make so many radical changes to the car anymore,” he said of the improving 2025 Red Bull, “but with that tire, it’s difficult.”

He added: “It’s better to force a two-stop race than to bring a tire that’s no better. It’s better to force drivers to use all compounds than to have a tire that’s no faster.

“They say that tire is faster, but it isn’t.”