Formula 1 Monaco GP

Verstappen: Red Bull "getting found out" by F1 rivals as gap closes

Max Verstappen says his Red Bull Formula 1 team is "getting found out" by its rivals after qualifying sixth in Monaco with car handling issues.

Filip Cleeren

Published: May 25, 2024, 4:58 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Verstappen struggled throughout practice over the many kerbs and bumps around Monaco's tight street circuit.

And while the Red Bull team turned around its practice woes last week in Imola, there was little that could be done to give Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez an RB20 that could beat Ferrari or McLaren in qualifying.

Verstappen's first flyer in Q3 was good for third, but after brushing the wall at Turn 1's Ste Devote the Dutchman couldn't set a second lap, ending up sixth, three tenths behind Ferrari's polesitter Charles Leclerc.

But regardless, Verstappen said he was not in the hunt for pole with a car that couldn't handle the bumps.

"We tried a lot of things on the car and literally nothing made it better, so then you're just stuck," Verstappen said when asked by Motorsport.com to explain his suspension issues.

"In the second sector we are so bad, just because I can't touch any kerbs because it just upsets the car way too much. You just lose a lot of lap time and it's incredibly difficult.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Erik Junius

"We went softer stuff for everything, but the car is like a go-kart. It's like I'm running without suspension, so it's jumping around a lot; not absorbing any kerb strikes or bumps or camber changes.

"The last corner, I think the amount of times that I just jumped almost into the wall was really incredible."

Verstappen says Red Bull's Monaco issues aren't too dissimilar to the low-speed handling problems on bumpy layouts it has had over the past two years with the ground-effect machinery, something its difficult 2023 Singapore Grand Prix weekend already foreshadowed.

But while Red Bull always had a quicker car that could mask those issues, the triple world champion believes it is now being found out on bumpy circuits because Ferrari and McLaren have all but closed the gap.

"It is not something new, we have had this problem since 2022," Verstappen explained.

"Of course, the last few years we have had a car advantage, so it gets masked a little bit because we gain in the corners where the kerbs and bumps are not so much of a limitation.

"But with everyone catching up, naturally, when you are not improving your weakest point, you get found out and that's what happened this weekend."

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Leclerc would have felt "completely stupid" without Monaco F1 pole

Next article Haas faces F1 Monaco GP disqualification for rear wing breach

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Homestead-Miami

17 min

TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale

Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role

NASCAR Truck

NSTR NASCAR Truck

Homestead

1 h

Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role

The surprising convergence behind F1's increasingly competitive 2026 season

Formula 1

The surprising convergence behind F1's increasingly competitive 2026 season

“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1 5 h

“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return

Feature

Discover prime content

Tough love and F1 titles – A key life lesson behind Wolff's Mercedes success

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Ronald Vording

Tough love and F1 titles – A key life lesson behind Wolff's Mercedes success

How Brazil showcased everything that's good about F1 - plus some that isn't

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Filip Cleeren

How Brazil showcased everything that's good about F1 - plus some that isn't

Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s

Formula 1

By Kevin Turner

Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s

Why Rafael Camara should take heart from a tough F1 debut in Brazil

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Why Rafael Camara should take heart from a tough F1 debut in Brazil

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts