Max Verstappen has faced increasing competition in Formula 1 in recent weeks. After the defeat in Miami and a shaky victory in Imola against Lando Norris, after Friday’s training in Monaco, the competition is wearing red this time, causing the world champion a headache. Or rather, one of the two Ferrari drivers.
Charles Leclerc made the best impression in the first two practice sessions in Monte Carlo and, with his best time in FP2, pushed himself into the role of favourite for the rest of the race weekend. At least that was the conclusion reached by Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr. Helmut Marko on Friday.
Helmut Marko: Red Bull not yet at its limit, but Leclerc is favourite
Verstappen only finished fourth in the second practice session, more than half a second behind. However, the gap is not as big as the time table suggests. “Alonso and Hamilton all revved the engines, as did Leclerc. I would say we drove closer to Leclerc than we were in FP1 and are ahead of the other two,” explained Marko.
But even with the engine revved up, Leclerc is probably still capable of something. The Ferrari driver had traffic twice and could therefore have driven an even faster time. Sergio Perez admitted defeat after the training day. “The Ferraris are simply unreachable at the moment,” said the 2022 Monaco winner.
Like a kangaroo: Max Verstappen despairs at the bouncing RB20
As was the case at the last GP weekend in Imola, the RB20’s problems were not only evident in the classification, but above all in its handling. The car was set up too hard for training at the Circuit de Monaco, and both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen complained about the car hitting the asphalt hard, even though the two Red Bulls were on the track with slightly different setups.
“I’m jumping like a kangaroo here. It’s giving me a headache. It’s crazy,” complained Verstappen on the radio during FP2. Perez expressed similar complaints, although he refrained from making animalistic comparisons. This problem in particular is to be addressed overnight in the simulator.
Dr. Helmut Marko: Red Bull only ahead in the long run
“First of all, you need trust. If the car jumps like a kangaroo, you don’t know where it will jump,” said Marko. “For us, the job is to minimize that,” he explained the priority, noting that Verstappen had even touched the guard rail in training.
“We have to make sure that we manage to do this without losing too much aerodynamic efficiency,” added the man from Graz. “It’s the usual game: In theory it’s clear, but the implementation is not so clear.” Verstappen also dampened hopes that this weekend could bring another miracle cure like in Imola: “The problem is a little more difficult to solve in terms of set-up and it won’t be a quick solution,” said the Dutchman.
Red Bull still has some good news to report: Verstappen clearly set the best times in the long run and the kangaroo problems were also reduced with a full tank. But Marko is under no illusions: the long run is rarely decisive at the Monaco GP. The qualifying result and the resulting track position are more important.