Monaco “one of the more difficult” weekends Verstappen
Max Verstappen has admitted that the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix is likely to be “one of the more difficult” weekends for the team because of the tight, twisty track layout, as they also look to fend off a growing threat from McLaren and Ferrari. So far this season the Dutchman took four wins from the first seven races.
However, recent upgrades from McLaren saw Lando Norris beat Verstappen to victory in Miami via a mid-race Safety Car, and then push the Dutchman all the way in Imola on Sunday eventually finishing second and seven tenths off.
Going into this weekend, Verstappen is not only wary of the successful developments McLaren and Ferrari are bringing to the track, but the side note that Red Bull have typically struggled on slower speed street tracks in recent years.
Asked for his predictions ahead of the weekend, Verstappen said: “I think looking at the track layout it’s probably not going to be our best track, just because our car normally struggles a bit over bumps and kerbs.”
“We did work on it a bit compared to last year. I think so far on most of the tracks that we’ve been to our low-speed performance has improved a little bit, but I don’t think this is going to be a very easy weekend.” But the Dutchman admitted that Monaco is never straight forwards.
Amid McLaren and Ferrari’s strong form, Verstappen, who has claimed pole position for all seven Grands Prix so far this year, is expecting a fierce battle to keep that 100% record intact, and stressed the importance of Red Bull executing a perfect weekend.
The Dutchman says the teams analysis shows that the rest of the field is closing up, but Imola was not the easiest weekend. He believes it will be about who will put more performance on the car, find the best possible set-up on the car.
Perez “stand out” more if Verstappen wasn’t his teammate,
Sergio Perez believes that he would “stand out” more if Max Verstappen wasn’t his teammate, while hinting at “reasons why” Red Bull is a challenge for any driver. Like his predecessors, Perez has struggled to get on level terms with Verstappen on a regular basis.
In what is seen as a key for his future, he’s yet to out-qualify or out-race the Dutchman as he sits third in the championship standings behind Leclerc. However, other than the last weekend at Imola, his performances have been fairly consistent.
Perez is out of contract at the end of 2024 but remains hopeful that he will remain at the team for a fifth straight campaign. Also in his favour is Daniel Ricciardo continues to under perform.
Last weekend, the Mexican said “It’s not fair if I’m going to speak for other drivers, but there are reasons why Red Bull doesn’t work for everyone. Being Verstappen’s teammate is super spicy. I’m sure I would have stood out more often if I had another teammate.”
“However, it is a fantastic challenge. Max is the best driver, he is complete and makes few mistakes. It’s great to have a team-mate like that, because you know you have to push to the limit and finish perfect weekends to beat him.”
Perez’s improved form could be down to a change of approach in terms of focusing on his own setup and what he is doing. The five-time F1 winner concedes that being “mentally strong” is one of the most important factors when you’re teammates with Verstappen
Perez added, “If you keep struggling and have a teammate like Max, who delivers weekend after weekend, you end up in a vicious cycle. You’re constantly looking at the set-up of the car, when there’s probably not that much left in it.”
Marko expects Ferrari to be Red Bull’s biggest threat
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko expects Ferrari to be Red Bull’s biggest threat in this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, while team boss Christian Horner is leaning towards McLaren. In the last two races both McLaren and Ferrari have heavily upgraded their cars over the past two races as the 2024 grid continues to converge.
Lando Norris won in Miami and on Sunday challenged Max Verstappen right until the chequered flag in Imola. Meanwhile, Ferrari aren’t too far behind, with Marko expecting them to be in the fight for pole, which is statically the most important of the season with thirteen wins in the last twenty years.
Asked if Monaco will be Red Bull’s stiffest challenge so far, Marko replied: “Yes. We have to take on this challenge. But I think the Ferrari will be more of a challenge in Monte Carlo than McLaren, because it’s all about qualifying. We have to take on this challenge, definitely.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is yet to snatch his first home win but has two poles to his name in 2021 and 2022.
But team principal Horner is leaning more towards McLaren due to its searing pace in Imola, where a tow for Max Verstappen helped him overcome Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to keep his clean sweep of 2024 pole runs intact.
He said “I think you have got to say McLaren. They have a very fast car at the moment. Piastri looked quick at certain moments, Lando was very quick at the end of the race there.”
“But Ferrari are in the noise with them as well so that is another four cars we are up against, which is great for you guys! The race is won on Saturday, fundamentally, so having one-lap performance and having a very strong front-end is going to be very important.”
McLaren, apart from Red Bull, look to have one of the best all-rounders looking as if they have achieved what they had set out to do. The completive nature across different cornering speeds, and therefore Horner expects the Woking-based team to be in the hunt everywhere.
he added, “Over the last couple of races they have been the main competitor and they have definitely added performance to their car. The philosophy is very similar to that of our own. We expect them to be competitive at all circuits.
Alonso has faith despite Aston slipping back
Fernando Alonso says despite Aston Martin slipping back this season and struggling to keep up he has full faith in the team and owner Lawrence Stroll to “fix things quicker” than other teams amid struggles. This time last year the team were in a run of six podiums from the first two races.
But since then its rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and in particular McLaren all made bigger gains and Aston has struggled to keep up in the development battle that has slipped to fifth.
When asked by Motorsport.com if he’s confident Aston is starting to have all the right tools in place to not be outpaced in F1’s development race, the two-time world champion replied: “It’s a complex sport. McLaren, until Austria, race seven last year, they were fighting for Q1. They have a great team, great people, great facilities, and a great brand behind. They went out of Q1.”
“You find something that the car is alive, and then you are changing everything. And it’s the same for us. Last year until mid-season we were the team to look at and to copy. And suddenly you can quickly take two or three steps backwards. So, now we need to focus on ourselves, get back there.”
But Alonso believes what makes them different is that Stroll is not just an owner but someone’s who competitive nature means they can fix things faster than other teams.
Talking Points Monaco
Round eight of the season brings F1 to the most important and prestigious automobile races in the world for the 81st Monaco Grand Prix and its 95th anniversary. Over the last ninety-five years the largely unchanged two-mile circuit has been one of the highlights although the narrow streets aren’t the best for racing.
Once described by Nelson Piquet likened racing round the course to “riding a bicycle around your living room”. The way Red Bull started the season, you would be forgiven for expecting them to be the heavy favourites at every single race this season, but they have already been beaten more than last season.
The Grand Prix also is one of the best sporting spectacles in the world, every session really does matter like a sprint weekend. A circuit where drivers building up their confidence and pace and slowly getting closer and closer to the barriers. It’s a track that rewards bravery and commitment but punishes mistakes so heavily, and also places different levels of importance on the competitive sessions during a weekend.
much of the focus for the teams and drivers will be on qualifying performance and that all-important best single lap on Saturday, with starting position so much more crucial in Monaco than anywhere else.
Last weekend, the top three teams were closer than ever, with Max Verstappen admitting he wasn’t expecting pole position on Saturday and actually targeting a top-five starting spot among the McLarens and Ferraris. In the race, Verstappen did win, but it wasn’t a dominant and didn’t look like a walk in the park like so many of his wins in the last two and a half years.
Following the race where Lando Norris was only seven tenths off and looked as if he could have followed Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, by taking his maiden win and second win on back-to-back weekends if their was more laps. The McLaren driver said McLaren now need to get used to fighting for wins each weekend after the step forward they have made.
Leclerc felt Ferrari missed out in qualifying at Imola, and he certainly posed a threat to Norris in the middle part of the race, with Leclerc, Norris and Verstappen all stating their impression that the gaps between the top three cars was under 0.1s last weekend.
That sets up the mouthwatering proposition of a race weekend where at least three teams will be targeting the victory when they hit the track on Friday, at a circuit where the driver can make that bit more of a difference, too. Imola and Monaco always used to follow each other, with a general consensus being that having a good car at one sets you up well for the other.
It maybe Leclerc’s home race, but his best result came during Covid in the virtual grand prix finishing third with his brother Arthur fifth. In real life his best result was fourth in 2022.
The podium at Imola was Ferrari’s first since Michael Schumacher in 2006, and as much as Leclerc will be targeting victory, a top three finish would also see him stand on the iconic Monaco podium for the first time.
S6 | Norris not ruling out Monaco win or 2024 title
Lando Norris says it was “about time” Max Verstappen “felt a bit of nerves again” at the front of F1. But he McLaren driver will not be underestimating the team’s prospects any longer ahead of a Monaco Grand Prix which could yet open up F1’s title fight.
In the closing stages of last Sunday’s race in Imola, Norris looked as if their was more laps could have taken victory as he finished the race within a second of Verstappen. As Norris, his good friend, closed in, Verstappen was heard on team radio complaining about his car’s lack of grip and lapped traffic.
Speaking to Sky Sports News on Wednesday in Monaco, Norris was asked whether he had watched last Sunday’s race back and whether, had he known of the agitated nature of Verstappen’s late-race radio messages at the time, he could have done anything differently earlier in the race to further crank on the pressure on the race leader.
Norris said, “I did everything I believed was right at the time. When it’s so close you always think ‘what really could I have done that little bit differently’ but you always could have done something a little bit better or a little bit differently. I’m sure Max could have reviewed things and said the same thing.”
“But nice to know it wasn’t an easy one for him. It’s about time someone put him under pressure and he felt a bit of nerves again, because I’m sure he hasn’t felt it for a while.”
Norris was seven tenths behind Verstappen, who has an forty-eight point lead over Charles Leclerc, with the McLaren driver twelve points further behind in fourth.
But with 17 races still to go in F1’s longest-ever season this year, Norris is also not ruling out an earlier challenge over the rest of 2024. He added, “We’re a third of the way through so we have a very long way to go, so I think many, many things can happen. But also Monaco is a place where anything can happen. So I would never say ‘no’ anymore.”
McLaren are the most successful team in Monaco, fifteen wins, however the last win was in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton. The team have only finished on the Principality’s podium once since 2011, Norris’ third place in 2021, and last year the Englishman and team-mate Oscar Piastri were lapped in ninth and tenth places respectively.
Hamilton addresses criticism of his F1 qualifying form
Lewis Hamilton says he is not too concerned by his poor F1 qualifying form ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. The seven-time champion has only out-qualified teammate George Russell in GP qualifying once this year, and over a course of a season has only been beaten once.
However, since the back end of last year, Hamilton has struggled with his one-lap pace. there’s no doubt Hamilton remains among the best on race day, particularly when it comes to managing his tyres.
Speaking to select media on Thursday in Monaco, Hamilton responded to questions about his underwhelming qualifying displays. He said “I wouldn’t say it’s not been a priority but the whole weekend has been the priority to improve everywhere. Particularly since the end of last year and all this year has been pretty bad on the Saturday.”
“I will continue to work on it. So far, I haven’t got it to a great place. There’s plenty of races to sort it out. There’s plenty of time to iron out all the creases in my performance and in the car’s. I am not getting too hung up on it. My race performance is still decent so fortunately I can fall back on that for now.”
What hasn’t helped is Mercedes having the worst start to the season since 2011, where they ended the season podium-less.
Schumacher awarded compensation over AI ‘interview’
Michael Schumacher’s family has been awarded 200,000 euros (£170,212) compensation from the publishers of a magazine which printed an artificial intelligence-generated ‘interview’ with the seven time champion.
In April 2023, the German publication Die Aktuelle ran a picture of Schumacher on the front cover of its edition in April 2023.
Underneath the headline of “Michael Schumacher, the first interview” read a strapline of “it sounded deceptively real” and it emerged in the article that the supposed quotes had been produced by AI.
Schumacher has not been seen in public since suffering severe head injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013. At the time, the most successful driver of all time was placed into an induced coma after his skiing accident and was brought home in September 2014, with his medical condition since kept private by his family.
He shares his seven titles with Lewis Hamilton, but the Englishman has surpassed his records for both pole positions and Grand Prix wins.
You can join us for coverage of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix with reports and analysis on our website and in This Grand Prix, on Sunday evening. FP1 starts Friday 13:30 CEST / 12:30 BST, Qualifying Saturday 16:00 / 15:00 and the race Sunday 15:00 / 14:00
