Max Verstappen eyes top pace despite struggles in FP2, as Ferrari and McLaren show serious form ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen wasn’t satisfied with the Red Bull RB21 he drove in FP2 this Friday in Monaco, but he’s not overly concerned. The four-time world champion fears McLaren and Ferrari, yet believes he’s still well placed in the leading group.
“Monaco is always tricky with traffic. But it was dangerous twice today, once in FP1 and once in FP2. These are free practice sessions, so it’s not a big deal, but it could have ended in serious accidents if I had misread the situation,” said the Dutchman, who feels his Red Bull deserves better than the tenth-place finish.
“FP1 was positive, we made changes in FP2 to see how far we could push the balance, and we really went for it. I couldn’t attack the corners the way I wanted to anymore, and I lost pace and couldn’t find any rhythm.”
“I don’t expect us to be the fastest; we want to be closer than we were in FP2, and I’m confident we can be. But Ferrari looks very fast. The McLarens are quick too, but if you look at the rest of the season, Ferrari has made a big step forward here.”
Tsunoda Eyes Gains Amid Monaco Traffic Chaos
Yuki Tsunoda was just behind Verstappen in the standings but doesn’t know exactly what his potential is due to a lack of running: “As usual, I had traffic — that’s the big story here, but it’s the same for everyone.”
“But I was unlucky when it came to getting a clean lap in; I didn’t get one in FP1, luckily I managed one in FP2. It was okay — there were limitations with the tyres, but they were the same between FP1 and FP2, and I didn’t feel much of a difference in grip with the softs.”
“I’m getting there, it’s improving, I made progress after FP1 but I still need to extract more from the car and I’m trying to find a few tenths. There’s potential, so I’ll keep working on improving my pace.”
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