Red Bull are not sure of ahead of Ferrari and Aston Martin in qualifying

Despite Max Verstappen’s good time in PR2 of the Monaco Grand Prix, the Red Bull drivers are still unsure of leading the way for the rest of the weekend.

Although Red Bull reigned at the beginning of the 2023 season, the Austrian team does not seem to have a clear advantage over their pursuers in Monaco, especially due to the Principality’s design, which does not feature the characteristics of the RB19.

I’m already worried about the weekend, Max Verstappen And Sergio Perez saw their fears confirmed during the first free practice session: the Ferrari of carlos sainz took the best time, relegating Pérez to tenth place. As for Verstappen, eighth place from the benchmark, he repeatedly complained about the behavior of his car.

And even if the Dutchman set a better time in EL2 later, the performance provided by his machine was not entirely satisfactory. “EL1 were very hard, I was not very happy with the behavior of the car on the sides and bumps”he commented at the end of the day. “The EL2s were already better, the car felt more competitive.”

He added: “Compared to Ferrari in particular, we still have limitations on the overall behavior of the car, how it handles the sides, the bumps, the slopes.

So, as things stand, Verstappen does not expect to challenge the pole position on Saturday. Knowing that this first place in qualifying is highly coveted in Monaco due to the difficulty of passing through the ranks, Red Bull will have to redouble their efforts.

“We still have to work on that [samedi]because you see they are very close”Verstappen said about Ferrari’s speed. “We need more to stay in front of them before we reach the limit in qualifying.”

“Hopefully tomorrow will be better. The car was at least drivable.” [ce vendredi], which allows you to make a good lap, attack a little more, to get closer to the rail. In general, the beginning [de journée] it was hard, but the end was good.”

And Ferrari aren’t the only threat to Red Bull this weekend. The team has also appointed him Aston Martinwhich is in a meeting this Friday with a Fernando Alonso within fourteen of the best times in EL1 and EL2. “[Les Aston Martin] they are also close so we have to take more leadership if we want to beat them tomorrow.”summary of Verstappen.

For his part, Sergio Pérez suffered more from the behavior of the RB19. His seventh place in FP2, half a second behind his teammate’s mark, is his best result of the day (he finished fourth in FP1 but six behind Sainz). Again, you will have to work.

“It wasn’t a very good day for speed”annoyed Pérez. “FP1 went a little better than FA2. With the changes we made, we have a lot to check tomorrow. I need to sit down and go through it to try to find the best aspects because every millisecond makes a difference here. .”