Verstappen highlights Red Bull’s struggles and how he can fight back in Monaco GP

Verstappen finished Q3 over seven tenths behind pole sitter Lando Norris, earning a fifth-place time. However, the Dutchman moved up to the fourth starting position on the grid because Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Verstappen during the first qualifying session. Thus, the Red Bull driver has a slightly better starting position than last year, when he started sixth in the race at Monte-Carlo.

"It's a bit better, but we're still weak at low speeds, also in the places where you have to take corners and you feel the camber dropping away," said Verstappen after qualifying to GPblog. "That's why our car doesn't like it. It never has, and it still doesn't. The balance is slightly better, but there's just not enough mechanical grip."

With the mandatory two-stop strategy introduced this year, the four-time world champion finds it difficult to gauge how hard he can push on his tires. "It all depends on whether a safety car comes out or not. It's very hard to know what to do at this point."

Verstappen had already predicted ahead of the weekend that it was going to be a tough job to compete for pole position in Monaco and points to a problem that has been lingering at Red Bull Racing on this circuit. The Red Bull driver also notes that McLaren has become even faster since the F1 circus arrived in the port city.

"I mean, it wasn't very good in the second free practice, but clearly McLaren has also improved," the Dutchman stated. "The issue is that we usually ocan adjust our balance and then find some performance. But if a car doesn't perform at low speed, then it just doesn't perform. It doesn't matter what you do with the settings, and that's our problem. That has always been our problem since the beginning of 2022 and it's still an issue."

For the third-ranked driver in the world championship, it's especially important during the race to keep the point loss to the two McLaren drivers limited. "It's just a race on the calendar where you need to score points. Even in the years I won the championship, I only won here twice for comparison. So it is what it is, you just always have to try to get the most out of what you have," said Verstappen.