Max Verstappen believes Monaco will be “one of the more difficult tracks” for Red Bull as looks to win F1’s Jewel in the Crown for a third time.
The reigning world champion has won five of the opening seven Grands Prix but there has been little to separate Red Bull and McLaren recently as Lando Norris won in Miami and finished less than one second behind Verstappen in Imola.
Verstappen has the opportunity to break Ayrton Senna’s record of eighth consecutive poles in the all-important Qualifying on Saturday – live on Sky Sports F1 at 3pm.
Due to the narrow track layout, pole position is more important at Monaco than any other circuit on the F1 calendar, so Verstappen is hoping to maintain his perfect 2024 Qualifying record.
“It’s one of the more difficult tracks for us. In the last few years, Ferrari have always been very, very strong here,” said Verstappen, who is 48 points ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.
“Plus McLaren lately, the last two races, really ramped up in performance. They are, for sure, ones to watch as well.
“In Monaco, you might have some surprises. Last year, Esteban did an amazing lap in Qualifying, so these kind of things can happen when someone feels really good and confident.”
Verstappen: Red Bull normally struggle with bumps and kerbs
Verstappen is a two-time winner in Monaco but the track may favour Ferrari this year due to the strength in the slow-speed corners.
The high kerbs in Monaco are also important to get on top of as the drivers try to go as straight as possible through the Nouvelle and Swimming Pool chicanes in the second half of the lap.
At last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, Red Bull failed to finish on the podium, the only time that happened in 2023, as one area they were weak at was the kerbs.
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Verstappen reflects on his early experiences in the sport and offers some advice to young drivers at the start of their racing careers
“Our car normally struggles a bit over bumps and kerbs. We did work in it a bit compared to last year,” added Verstappen.
“I think, so far, on most of the tracks that we’ve been to, our low-speed performance has improved a little bit. But I don’t think this is going to be a very easy weekend.
“Monaco never is very straightforward, even when you have the best car. Monaco is a very tricky track to get everything to work, to get the tyres to work in a Qualifying lap for example, red flags, there’s always a lot of disruption.
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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is targeting a win in Monaco, insisting second or third is not something that excites him
“A lot of things can go right but also a lot of things can go wrong. We just need to be need to be on it. Imola started off really, really bad and we managed to turn it around.
“I wouldn’t want to have a weekend like that again, it’s quite stressful and not nice but we know that this is a more difficult track for us. Even though we have won here in the past, it’s quite complicated, so we will see where we are at.”
Field closing up at the front
Red Bull initially struggled in Imola but Verstappen delivered a stunning lap last Saturday and took pole position from Norris after getting a slipstream on his final Q3 run from Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg.
On race day, Norris closed a 7.5-second gap to finish just 0.725s behind Verstappen, with Leclerc only another seven seconds behind.
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Lando Norris says he would love to win in Monaco as he looks ahead to a challenging race weekend
“After Miami it was quite clear it all closed up quite a bit,” said Verstappen. “Even though Imola was probably also not our easiest weekend.
“It will depend now on who will put more performance on the car, find the best possible set-up on the car, but for sure things have closed up, which makes it very important to try be at our very best.
“I know that is not always a very realistic possibility but you always try to get to a certain point and maybe the last few races we haven’t been operating at that.
“Every single weekend we try again and try to find the best possible set-up in the car but for sure you can see it’s definitely closing up.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Monaco GP and Indy 500 schedule
Friday May 24
10am: F3 Qualifying
12pm: Monaco GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)*
2pm: F2 Qualifying*
3.45pm: Monaco GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)*
5.30pm: The F1 Show
6.30pm: Indy 500 Final Practice
8.30pm: Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge
Saturday May 25
9.40am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Monaco GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)*
1.10pm: F2 Sprint*
2.15pm: Monaco GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: Monaco GP Qualifying*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place at the Monaco Grand Prix
Sunday May 26
6.55am: F3 Feature Race
8.35am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Monaco GP build-up*
2pm: The MONACO GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Monaco GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
5.30pm: The Indy 500
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
It’s time for the most-famous F1 race of them all – the Monaco Grand Prix. Watch every session from the famous street circuit from Friday live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 2pm. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime