Verstappen and Red Bull Struggle in Monaco Qualifying
Max Verstappen and Red Bull have experienced several significant comebacks in Formula 1 this season, but Monaco proved to be a tough spot where setup changes seemed ineffective.
During the Monaco qualifying session, Verstappen’s performance was disappointing, earning him a fifth-place finish (though he will start fourth due to Lewis Hamilton’s grid penalty for blocking). This marked Red Bull’s largest performance gap of the season.
The four-time world champion finished 0.7 seconds off pole position, translating to a 1.022% deficit—much higher than his previous lowest performance in Bahrain at 0.649% behind.
Just a week after securing his second win at Imola, this qualifying setback came as a surprise. Verstappen had expressed optimism after a flawed Friday practice, hoping for a turnaround similar to earlier races this season.
Reflecting on last year’s Monaco, where he had voiced concerns about Red Bull’s weaknesses, Verstappen repeated similar frustrations. “In FP2 it was not very good, but clearly others also made a step forward,” he noted, pointing out that low-speed performance issues persisted.
Despite achieving the second-best times across FP1 and FP3, Verstappen struggled more once qualifying began, with a growing time deficit in each session. “When you don’t have grip here, extracting speed becomes difficult,” he explained.
Although Hamilton’s penalty opens up hopes for a podium finish on Sunday, Verstappen expressed uncertainty about competing directly. The mandatory two-stop strategy introduces potential for strategic advantages, but he acknowledged that luck might be needed for any significant gains.
