Monaco will not suit Red Bull in 2025 either: Max Verstappen lacks grip, especially in the second sector, meaning he cannot compete for pole position
Everything is different in Monaco. In previous races, Max Verstappen was able to suddenly turn things around for Red Bull after a weak Friday, but in Monaco, things didn’t go so well after a good Friday. In qualifying in Monte Carlo, the world champion had to settle for fifth place this time, a full seven-tenths of a second behind.
“Normally, you can find a few tenths by adjusting the setup. But if the car fundamentally doesn’t work in certain conditions, then it doesn’t work. And that’s exactly our problem,” said Verstappen after qualifying.
The Red Bull has not overcome its weaknesses from last year and is struggling with slow corners and the nature of the track in Monaco. “Especially in the middle sector—all the slow, mechanical grip corners—we just had nothing,” he said, annoyed. “I couldn’t find any more time compared to practice.”
“Every time I had to go over a kerb or a wheel was at an angle in a corner, there was no grip – and that was our problem,” said the Dutchman, who knew early on in qualifying that he would not be in contention for pole position today.
Although he was still reasonably close in the first two sections, Verstappen was unable to match the times of his rivals in Q3: “It’s clear that we couldn’t have achieved those times,” Marko told Sky.
Friday’s impression was deceptive
The Austrian had been optimistic on Friday and had hoped to beat the McLarens in qualifying. “Yes, unfortunately that was a false impression,” he admitted. “And I have to say: Norris did a fantastic job of staying cool and setting the fastest lap.”
However, Verstappen had already warned about the track on Thursday and feels vindicated. “Of course, you always hope for more and try to solve problems,” he said. “But our car just doesn’t like slow corners. And especially not here in Monaco, with all the kerbs and the track characteristics. It’s just not our track.”
The good news after qualifying was that the Dutchman will at least gain one place because Lewis Hamilton will be moved back three positions, putting Verstappen on the second row of the grid.
Will the new strategy work in the race?
But if Verstappen wants a really good result, something has to happen in the race. The new two-pit stop rule opens up opportunities, even if no one knows yet how the race will unfold. “No one drives at full throttle in the race anyway, so we have to hope for a clever strategy,” says Verstappen.
“But we also know that it’s usually a long race – but with two stops, it could be a bit more interesting this time.”
The tactics Red Bull will choose depend on how the race goes, because the team can’t afford to take too many risks with fourth place. “Let’s see how the race goes, whether Norris really pushes or just cruises,” says Marko, who doesn’t see any strategy offering an advantage at the moment. “Anything is possible here.”
“But what we saw in Formula 2: [Arvid] Lindblad was three seconds faster than the driver in front of him because he had saved his tires – and yet no overtaking was possible. And an F2 car is smaller than an F1 car. Even if you’re five seconds faster, you can’t get past here. So it’s all about strategy stretching.”
And if he doesn’t manage to win or finish on the podium, it’s not the end of the world for Verstappen, because Monaco is just one race out of 24 where the aim is to score points.
“Even in the years when I became champion, I only won here twice,” he notes. ‘You just have to try to get the best out of it. It’s just not our track at the moment – not with this car.’
