Verstappen is "a little more reserved" for the Monaco Grand Prix

Despite having won last weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Max Verstappen approaches this weekend's Monaco round "a little more reserved" given his car's strengths and weaknesses.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen looked to struggle for pace at the start of last weekend's 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.

The Dutchman then 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.

Asked what makes the Monaco Grand Prix different and special, Verstappen has revealed that the most difficult thing is to master the flying laps in qualifying.

"I think it’s just how difficult the track is to master in qualifying, to get the most out of it. Also knowing that overtaking is difficult on a Sunday, qualifying is even more important.

"It’s incredibly narrow, challenging, bumpy. The history, of course, of Monaco in general – this is one of these races that you really want to win. It is very special to be racing here.

"It’s pretty insane, to be honest. But once you stand on the top step on the podium, it’s something where you’re like, “That was a great weekend.” You’re like, “done!”

Despite having won last weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Max Verstappen approaches this weekend's Monaco round "a little more reserved" given his car's strengths and weaknesses.

"Well, I mean, if you take the average of Miami and Imola, I don’t think we look that great. So we have to be calm. Imola was a very good weekend for us – I say weekend because Friday was not good.

"We just have to keep understanding our car a bit better, what we want with the set-up. This is a very different track. If you look at the season so far, we’ve only really been properly competitive on high-speed corners.

"Monaco is not a high-speed track. I’m a little more reserved for this weekend. Even if you have the best car, to nail it in qualifying around here is very tough. We just have to see what happens tomorrow and work from there. I have no idea where we are in the order. Historically, we’ve not been particularly great on street circuits. Hopefully we can change that a bit, but I don’t know.

The reigning champion finds himself 22 points behind the leader, Oscar Piastri. Asked whether he believes that he is genuinely in this battle for the championship title, Verstappen said that Red Bull would need to improve the RB21 if they really want to have a chance for the titles in 2025.

"Well, it’s not about believing. It’s about where you finish in the last race, and we just keep working every race to be better and improve the situation. A lot can happen.

"If you asked me last year around this time, I’d have said, “Yeah, we’re going to win it. No problem.” But then a lot changed as well. It’s not for sure that it’s going to be straightforward to the end of the season.

"I think we still have to improve in areas, but that’s fine. We’ll try to find the improvements," Verstappen concluded.