Verstappen had a tough time during practice in Monaco because of the many bumps and kerbs on the street circuit. Even though Red Bull fixed some issues in the previous race in Imola, they couldn’t do much to make Verstappen’s car faster than Ferrari or McLaren for qualifying.
In the final qualifying session, Verstappen managed to get third place with his first fast lap. But when he hit the wall at Turn 1, he couldn’t improve his time and ended up sixth, behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen explained that his car struggled with the bumps, making it hard for him to go fast. He tried different things to fix it during practice, but nothing worked. He couldn’t use the kerbs because they made his car unstable and slowed him down a lot.
He compared his car to a go-kart, saying it felt like there was no suspension, so every bump felt huge. He even mentioned how close he came to hitting the wall at the last corner because of how bumpy it was.
Verstappen said that Red Bull’s problems in Monaco were similar to the issues they’ve had on bumpy tracks for the past two years. He mentioned the Singapore Grand Prix last year as an example. But before, Red Bull had a faster car overall, so these problems didn’t show as much.
Now, with Ferrari and McLaren catching up, Red Bull’s weaknesses are more obvious, especially on bumpy tracks like Monaco. Verstappen thinks this is why they struggled in Monaco.
