Red Bull opts for different tyre strategy than McLaren already!

Almost everyone has six sets of softs left, and among the top teams, only Russell is down to five sets of the softest compound. Max Verstappen has an advantage over Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, and Lewis Hamilton regarding the medium tyre, though.

The world champion, just like Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda, has two fresh sets of the medium tyres left. However, the Dutchman has one less set of the hard compound Pirelli tyres.

Thus, Verstappen seems to have the edge over his competitors, also because tyre wear around the Monte-Carlos street circuit is expected to be low. Additionally, two stops are mandatory this weekend to make it more exciting for the fans.

Pirelli notes similarities with the C6 compound compared to last week. The C6 compound, the softest tyre Pirelli has, was driven for the first time in Imola last week. It turned out to be not much faster than the C5. Simone Berra, head engineer at Pirelli, understands why.

‘’A pretty busy day with lots of laps and a wealth of data collected. It was important for us to see how the C6 performed after its debut in Imola and we can say that the signals we saw last week were confirmed here today."

‘’It was also clear that, as it exhibits the characteristics of an extremely soft compound, the drivers might feel a little less confident with it when trying to set a time from the first flying lap. This could lead to the medium tyre being used in one or more qualifying segments as well.’’ Here, is where Verstappen may have a significant advantage, as qualifying in Monaco is half the battle towards achieving an optimal result on Sunday.