Max Verstappen – fresh from winning the Imola GP last week – is back on track in Monaco finding some difficulties both in Free Trials 1 than in FP2. The three-time World Champion complained about the rigidity of his single-seater, from which he still managed to extrapolate an excellent race pace.
Verstappen fourth in FP2 of the Monaco GP
The number #1 driver of the Red Bull he started the weekend in the Principality dictating the pace with the medium tyre, but the improvement in the times of home hero Leclerc meant that Max was knocked out of first place in the standings. In the last 20 minutes available Verstappen remains on track with the average, while the other drivers they are fitted with soft rubber. Max concludes FP1 in 11th position.
In the qualifying simulation of the second session of the day, Max pays half a second to Ferrari led by Charles Leclerc. Dutch yes complained via radio with his engineer jumping of his RB20 – comparing it to that of a kangaroo-, due to a set-up too hard. Despite these difficulties, Verstappen has shown that he has a great race pace during the FP2 of the Monaco GP.
“We don't expect miracles”
Interviewed at the end of the free practice day on Friday, Max Verstappen explained the reason for the difficulties he encountered. “Today was quite difficult, but we knew that this would be the case ahead of this weekend's race. On the track there was a lot of jumping and temperature variations, which made things difficult for us“. He continued by saying: “Every time I went over a bump, the car lost a lot of lap time and here a small jump is enough to send you into the wall".
"The problem is a little more difficult to solve at a set-up level and it won't be a quick fix, but we will work on it overnight. We don't expect miracles, but let's look at the qualification“. Given Leclerc's excellent performance, the Dutch driver adds: “The Ferrari is fast, but I don't think about it until tomorrow. We hope to improve the car's handling ahead of qualifying".
STATEMENT SOURCE: FormulaPassion.it
