Max Verstappen isn’t expecting Red Bull to challenge Mercedes at next weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
During the hybrid era, the streets of Monte Carlo have been the best opportunity for the Milton Keynes outfit to win a race, albeit only doing so once with Daniel Ricciardo last year.
In 2019, however, the performance dynamic among the top three teams has changed with the W10 chassis giving the German manufacturer their significant advantage.
And looking ahead to next weekend, while Red Bull might be closer than in recent races, the Dutchman doesn’t expect that to change.
“For Monaco, I think at the moment, looking at the low-speed performance in the last sector [in Barcelona], we are clearly not the favourite,” said Verstappen.
“I don’t expect it to be like last year when we were super-strong in Monaco.”
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In fact, while aerodynamics has been the traditional strength of Red Bull for a decade now, Max doesn’t think there is an area where the RB15 currently matches the Silver Arrow.
“I think at the moment, we’re not really better in any corner than Mercedes,” Verstappen claimed.
“[Our car is] good! It’s not that it’s a bad car – but at the moment, Mercedes is just a bit quicker than us everywhere.
“Medium-speed, high-speed is pretty similar I would say, but again, that depends on downforce levels you’re running every single weekend so it’s a bit difficult to say.”
