Max Verstappen is doubtful whether he can master the slow turns of the Monaco circuit – which already troubled his RB20 last year – this coming weekend. In the run-up to ‘the crown jewel’, he emphasized that his current car does not feel much better in this regard. It promises to be a ‘difficult’ weekend for the Dutchman, who had to settle for sixth place last year – after another procession race.
“Imola has given us some good ideas about what we need from the car, but Monaco is a completely different circuit,” Verstappen told the media in the principality. “You can’t set up the car like in Imola, because then it bounces all over the place. That’s why this circuit is still not optimal for us. I think we all know that. You can see this season that we are competitive every time on circuits with fast turns, but the rest is more difficult.”
‘It won’t be easy’
“When you look at Imola, you still see that the slowest turns were not our strongest point,” he explained. “We know that this circuit (Monaco, ed.) is not suitable for our car, and that has not changed for the time being,” said Verstappen. In particular, the bumps and many kerbs in the principality cost Red Bull a lot of time last year. These problems would not have been resolved during the winter break.
“To be honest, so far it hasn’t felt very different from last year,” the four-time world champion admitted. “But of course we are still trying to find some things with the setup, to make the car at least a little better to handle on circuits like this.” Whether Verstappen has a chance of a third victory in Monaco with his RB21 remains to be seen. “At this moment it’s hard to say,” he concluded. “We have to wait and see how we start the weekend tomorrow, including the feeling in the car. But as I said, it won’t be easy, that’s for sure.”
