Verstappen stays level-headed but knows it was 'not good enough' in Monaco Grand Prix qualifying

The Dutchman will start the Grand Prix in the Principality from fifth place, unable to find pace to challenge the McLarens and Ferraris at the front of the grid.

The 27-year-old knows it was potentially all he and his RB21 could muster in the most important qualifying sessions of the season,

"Yes, we're losing a lot of time in the middle sector. There's no mechanical grip in the slow corners," was the first reaction of the Red Bull driver at Viaplay.

"But here, you have even slower corners. In the second sector on the inside, where you need to hit the kerbs, the car doesn't handle nicely over them," Verstappen explains that Red Bull have been struggling with this for some time.

The Dutchman did not see fifth place as a surprise behind the drivers of McLaren and Ferrari. "As soon as we started qualifying, we saw it wasn't in there. Then fifth place is normal."

Did Verstappen then extract everything possible? Or was there more to it? "I was on the limit, but it wasn't good enough. There wasn't enough grip. Everything felt reasonably okay, but in the middle sector, you feel it's not running smoothly."

Overtaking on the Monaco circuit is difficult. With a compulsory two-stopper, there could be some changes in strategy, but Verstappen remains level-headed.

"I don't think too much about it. It can be positive or negative. Ultimately, there are 24 races, so we just have to check this one off," concludes the Red Bull driver.