Max Verstappen expressed his dissatisfaction with his Red Bull RB20 during Monaco qualifying.
Max Verstappen has said the “only positive” he found from the Monaco Grand Prix was that Red Bull have identified the weakness that hindered their performance over the weekend.
On Sunday, the reigning World Champion began and concluded the race in sixth position. Remarkably, all the top 10 racers maintained their starting and finishing positions throughout the race, with very few on-track overtakes occurring.
Max Verstappen: ‘We know what our weakness is’ at Red Bull
Additional reporting by Sam Cooper
On a weekend where Red Bull’s rivals were able to leapfrog them around Monaco, with Charles Leclerc taking a first home victory around Monte Carlo, Verstappen admitted that without opportunities to overtake around the lap, his race ended up being a “boring” one.
After acknowledging that his RB20 felt like a “go-kart” when maneuvering through the kerbs and its suspension struggling with the rough bumps in Monaco, the three-time World Champion stated that the team has identified the cause of their issues.
He believes the car “truly comes alive again” if they manage to find a solution, considering that the RB20 has been the standout performer for most of the season thus far.
Verstappen, speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com, expressed that our strategy was somewhat compromised after the occurrence of the red flag.
We had to move the medium to the end because everyone had a free stop, which required us to save a significant amount.
“I attempted to keep up with George [Russell], but we were significantly slower. My focus was on controlling the tire performance.”
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Naturally, it was rather dull out there, you see, driving at only half the usual speed on the straight stretches, and occasionally shifting up a gear earlier than usual.
Yeah, we’re about four seconds behind the pace. So it’s safe to say we’re not really racing.
In general, our weekend has been extremely disappointing. However, the silver lining is that we have identified our weakness, and even a slight improvement in that area will result in significant gains in lap time.
Yes, there is definitely ample room for improvement, and once we address those areas, our car will truly regain its vitality.
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