Why Verstappen remains calm after biggest qualifying gap of the F1 season

Since 2022, Red Bull Racing has seldom had the best car in the streets of Monte Carlo. The new regulations helped Verstappen and Red Bull to the necessary world titles, but victories in Monaco were no guarantee. the Austrian racing team's car couldn't cope with the circuit characterised by low speeds and bumps.

Thus, Verstappen also looked ahead to the weekend on Thursday much more relaxed after his win in Imola. For the first time, the balance of the RB21 was more to his liking, and Red Bull was the fastest car on Sunday in terms of pace. This gave confidence for the rest of the season, Verstappen even spoke again of the world title, but was not hopeful for Monaco, though.

Indeed, on Thursday, Verstappen warned that a victory in the Principality was probably not possible. On Friday, there was some hope due to the good pace shown in the practice sessions. Helmut Marko even thought that the McLarens could be beaten if the problem with understeer could be resolved. That turned out to be an illusion on Saturday. Red Bull was simply too slow.

Andre Stella explained on Friday using fruit as an example. According to the McLaren team manager, you couldn't compare apples with pears. A comparison that caused a lot of confusion. Where in Italian, just as in Dutch, that's a normal saying, Brits instead compare apples with ‘oranges’, i.e. oranges. The session with Stella became even messier on Saturday when a Spaniard mentioned that their saying compares apples with bananas.

But then what Stella's metaphor stood for: Red Bull is always good on ‘apple circuits’, McLaren always good on ‘pear circuits’. Apple circuits stood for circuits with high-speed corners like Suzuka and Imola. The pear circuits were the tracks with more medium and low speed corners like Bahrain and Miami. Monaco? That was a peach circuit according to Stella.

Monaco is a weekend that seldom gives a good representation for the rest of the season. Only Hungary and Singapore come close to Monaco, but even those circuits don't consist of so few high-speed sections. Monaco is therefore an exception.

The fact that Monaco is an exception makes Verstappen relaxed in Monaco. The Dutchman raised concerns in 2024, but now knows that not winning in Monaco doesn't necessarily mean you're out of the title race. Of course, it needs to be better, but Monaco isn't the benchmark for the season.

Where Sunday in Monaco is usually a formality, it could be different in 2025. Helmut Marko predicted on Friday that the Grand Prix, due to the two mandatory pit stops, could almost become a lottery. Verstappen could agree with that after the end of the qualifying.

‘’It could be interesting, but it could go either way. It's difficult to predict at this moment,’’ Verstappen said about the strategic possibilities.