Max Verstappen gives hope to Red Bull’s Monaco chances: “We can be a lot closer”

Max Verstappen doesn’t think Red Bull’s pace in second practice at the F1 Monaco Grand Prix was truly representative after a number of unsuccessful setup changes.

Verstappen ended FP2 in Monte Carlo 10th-fastest, 0.713s off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull have struggled on street circuits in recent years, with Verstappen finishing sixth in last year’s Monaco Grand Prix.

However, their FP1 pace looked more promising as Verstappen ended up second-fastest behind Leclerc.

Speaking after the session, Verstappen revealed that Red Bull made several setup tweaks, which didn’t have a positive effect.

“It was quite positive but then we made some changes for FP2 to see how far basically we could push the balance and I think we just overdid it a little bit,” Verstappen said.

“So I just couldn’t really attack the corners anymore how I would like and then you’re just like shedding a lot of pace and the lap time was basically not coming out of it.

“I don’t expect us to be the quickest, but we want to be a lot closer than what we were in FP2. I’m also quite confident that we can be a lot closer.”

“Ferrari again looks very, very fast. The McLarens were quite close behind but if you see over the whole season the pace, I think Ferrari again took a big step forward here.”

Verstappen rues Monaco traffic

It was a busy session for the drivers in terms of traffic.

In FP1, Leclerc ran into the back of Lance Stroll at the hairpin, resulting in damage for both cars.

Stroll picked up a one-place grid penalty as a result.

Verstappen had a number of near misses throughout the day, nearly clattering into Gabriel Bortoleto.

The four-time world champion admitted there “could have been quite a big crash”.

“Monaco is always quite tricky with traffic, but I think two times today it was quite dangerous, I would say, in FP1 and then one time in FP2,” Verstappen added. “Which is not ideal.

“I know it’s practice, but it could have been quite a big crash if you don’t back out of it quickly, if you didn’t read the situation, but luckily everything went well.”