Marko full of confidence: Verstappen can defeat his championship rivals in Monaco

While after Fridays, drivers and team personnel regularly talk about the RB21 being off the pace and explain many changes are needed, top advisor Marko was positive after the two sessions in Monte-Carlo, even as Max Verstappen only finished in P10 in FP2.

"FP1 was good, FP2 we changed some stuff which wasn't bringing the results we expected. We got understeer, understeer here at this circuit and Verstappen doesn't fit together. So I hope we can recover tomorrow," the Austrian began to GPblog among others.

"Positive thing was in the long run one of the last laps he did 1:19, which was one of the fastest I think, but generally Ferrari seems to be really fast and I would say they are the favourite," he continued.

Even as there are more factors to a successful weekend than just long runs in Monaco, Marko believes Verstappen can gain on Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the standings. Currently, the gap between the Australian and Verstappen stands at 22 points.

Red Bull have typically started weekends slow so far in 2025, but come Friday, Max Verstappen is regularly towards the front fighting for the best positions.

Even as after FP2, Ferrari and McLaren seem to be much faster than the Austrian team, Marko believes there is a clear reason why the Dutchman be towards the front once again.

"We went not in the right direction and it's Friday, and Friday is not our strongest day," he answered GPblog's question.

The Austrian is confident because "we know how much we are losing through the understeering."

It seems like McLaren are not as dominant as they were for the second weekend in a row. "No, they are as strong as they are normally," the top advisor concluded.