Max Verstappen acknowledges that Red Bull’s difficulties in Monaco revealed the “big weakness” in their 2024 vehicle as the team faces increasing pressure to break their two-year dominance on Formula One race weekends.

Two weeks ago in Monaco, Verstappen qualified and finished sixth in a race that Ferrari’s Charles won with impressive style, giving Red Bull their worst competitive result since last September’s Singapore GP, another street track event. This occurred amid an already tightening battle at the front of Formula 1 this season.

After departing Monaco with a 31-point advantage over Leclerc in the world championship, Verstappen acknowledged that “some tracks that are still upcoming won’t really be that good for us but then also some tracks will be better for us.”

“The only positive that comes out of [Monaco] is that we understand what our big weakness is and that’s what we really have to work on,” the world champion continued in an interview with Sky Sports F1.

“I believe we will gain a lot of lap time right away if we can figure that out, or at least make it passable.

However, the car did not appreciate the bumps and kerbs on the street track in Monaco, and the RB20 was clearly off the pace the entire weekend.

After the race, team manager Christian Horner stated, “We’ve got a huge amount of data now to go away and look at, and look to address for the upcoming races to understand what the issues were with the ride and the kerbs.”

“I believe we witnessed it in Singapore as well, so I believe there has been another instance of it. We are aware that there is something wrong with the car.

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Max Verstappen evaluates Red Bull’s prospects of improving in Montreal following their difficulties in Monaco.

“I think, first of all, it’s understanding what the issue is, so once we’ve done that, then you can look at what the relevant fix is.”

Verstappen harshly compared qualifying, where he crashed into the wall at Ste Devote and only managed to finish sixth fastest, to operating a “go-kart”. Horner claimed that despite the description being direct, the Dutchman’s renowned directness in describing the driving experience of the RB20 ultimately benefited the team’s efforts.

“Pay attention to what Max has said over the past ten years. He simply is really straightforward and direct. It simply concentrates everyone,” the CEO of Red Bull stated.

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Verstappen, who only placed sixth in Monaco qualifying, expressed his disappointment with the Red Bull and said it “feels like a Go-Kart with no suspension.”

“After qualifying, we had an excellent debriefing where we really delved into the driver’s actual feelings. He worked very hard to spend time [after qualifying] with the engineers. It just takes awareness and hard work, there is no magic bullet.”

When asked what the current upgrade strategy for the RB20 was, Horner said, “It’s a continuous process.” You are aware of the law of diminishing returns, of course, and your priorities fluctuate based on the nature of your issues.

Therefore, I believe that a lot of attention will now be focused on asking, “Well, why have we had these ride issues? Is the car having trouble getting up the kerbs? The RB vehicle didn’t appear to have the same problems as last year and is currently operating without suspension. Therefore, we must determine if this is anything we’ve introduced.”

Will Red Bull perform better in Montreal, or will they run into similar issues?

Despite appearing to be a street track, Verstappen has won the last two Canadian Grand Prix from pole position. The wall-lined track Gilles Villeneuve also boasts much faster stretches.

But in Montreal, being able to ride the kerbs is equally crucial, especially at the first and last chicanes.

Verstappen stated: “Our vehicle is just not very good at it, so it’s probably not going to be the easiest weekend because of the kerbing and whatnot.

“They resurfaced the track so that might actually bring some unexpected stuff, you never know the grip levels.”

Horner went on, “We’ve done well on this track in the past. Let’s see, they’ve resurfaced the entire circuit. McLaren and Ferrari are fast. The inevitable confluence was always going to occur.”

In fact, three races in a row have been won by three different teams for the first time since September 2021.

After winning four of the first five grand prix of the current season, Verstappen looked to be cruising to the title once more. Had his car not experienced an uncommon technical retirement, he would have been seriously considered for the race that he did not win, Australia.

However, the three grand prix that happened in May told a different story.

At the beginning of the month, Lando Norris broke his F1 duck for McLaren in Miami. Two weeks later, at Imola, the Briton finished right on Verstappen’s tail as he pursued another victory. After a week, Leclerc ended the month by winning on his home field of Monaco, where he had not won in almost two years.

In the Constructors’ Championship, Red Bull’s lead over Ferrari is down to just 24 points in a record-length season with 16 races remaining. Meanwhile, the top three drivers in the championship, Verstappen, Leclerc, and Norris, are separated by 56 points, or slightly more than the equivalent of two race wins.

“I think McLaren made a big step,” Horner stated as the six races in eight weeks leading up to the August vacation break approached. Ferrari made a pretty minor step, in my opinion. We’ll see throughout the course of the next two or three races.

“Now that the championship is really heating up, let’s see what happens in Montreal, Barcelona, Austria, and Silverstone over the following few circuits. It’s not a sprint, but a marathon.”

“We don’t take anything for granted but I think those tracks will play more to the strengths of the car,” Horner responded when asked about the three circuits that come after Montreal.

“The car has won two Sprint events, five races overall, including a second place finish in Miami. Thus, it’s not like the automobile has changed from being a good car to a bad car; rather, this circuit hasn’t worked in our favor, and we need to figure out what our vulnerabilities are and how to overcome them.”