Verstappen is unsure how his RB21 will master the narrow streets of Monaco
Hot on the heels of his dominant victory at Imola, reigning champion Max Verstappen is looking forward to this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, albeit he has some concerns about the competitiveness of his RB21 on the narrow and twisty streets of Monte Carlo.
Reigning champion Max Verstappen looked to struggle for pace on the opening day of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, complaining about the race pace of his RB21. However, he displayed a stellar performance in qualifying to secure second spot on the grid.
On Sunday, the Dutchman endured a slow getaway at the start, but made an eye-catching move into Turn 1, braking late and braving it around the outside of Oscar Piastri to take the lead on the first lap.
McLaren had been expected to have dominant race pace and tyre management on the hot surface of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari. However, Verstappen managed his medium tyres during his opening stint, and he received some good fortunes with VSC which enabled him to bank a cheap pit stop.
When the Safety Car came out, he lost his enormous advantage, but he did not lose his focus and drove into the distance for his second Grand Prix win of the year.
Speaking ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, Verstappen sounded a slightly pessimistic note, suggesting that the RB21 might struggle around the streets of the Principality given the performance of Red Bull's previous cars at Monte Carlo.
"It was amazing to kick start the triple header with a win on Sunday in Imola. We made a lot of positive steps, I felt a lot more comfortable in the car and this puts us in a more positive position moving forward.
"We will need to keep pushing and not get ahead of ourselves as Monaco will be a bit tougher, with it being a street circuit. It hasn’t been our strongest track in the past, but we did make a step forward with the set up and we will try and do the best that we can.
"Again, qualifying is key here and we are reliant on strategy so it will be about getting a good result on Saturday and extracting the best possible performance of the car. It will also be nice to be close to home for this race, especially when it is such a hectic and busy weekend!"
His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda endured a tough weekend at Imola. The Japanese driver struggled for pace on Friday before suffering a high-speed crash in qualifying.
Tsunoda was forced to start from the pit lane after Red Bull had to make crucial changes on his RB21. He then went on to move up the grid to finish the Imola round in P10, scoring a point for himself and the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, Tsunoda said: "Some of last weekend made it one to forget in Imola, but there was also positives to take and those have given me a boost coming into Monaco.
"I made a silly mistake in Qualifying, so I need to learn patience and know the results will come to me.
"The car felt good all weekend and I know this car has the ability to perform, going from pitlane to P10 felt good but in Monaco I want to be moving through the field a lot higher up.
"That’s the aim for this weekend and to maintain the focus this track and the RB21 requires to be successful. Monaco is a crazy week, Red Bull show up in a way no other team does in Monte Carlo and I want to make the impact I know we can on track," concluded the Japanese driver.
