Max Verstappen believes Red Bull does have enough pace left in hand to negate the impact of Ferrari and Mercedes’ notorious engine modes in qualifying for the Monaco GP.
In practice on Thursday, it was the Dutchman’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo who led both sessions around the streets of Monte Carlo, becoming the first driver ever to complete a lap in the 1m11s in the process.
Max was right behind in second, however, and commenting in the paddock later issued a glowing report of his car’s performance.
“Today went well from the start and it was a positive start”, he told his official website.
“Our car has a lot of grip and is easy to drive. That’s really important on a street circuit like Monaco. I’m happy with that.
“Today we haven’t been on the limit yet, but we were still fast,” the 20-year-old added. “We didn’t have any set-up issues, I’ve got the right feeling in the car and there is still margin to improve.
“Thursday was a good day. Hopefully, we can maintain this on Saturday.”
Despite their tremendous pace, with a margin of over half a second to Sebastian Vettel in third, Red Bull’s weakness over a single lap remains a lingering worry with the team usually slipping back to the third row in qualifying.
“Always on Friday Red Bull look a bit stronger, so let’s see if it’s the usual [on Saturday]”, the Ferrari driver said, citing that very fact.
“I think it will be very close. I don’t have a favourite yet. For us, we need to look at ourselves which is what we do and try to do our homework.
“I was pretty comfortable in the car, it was sliding too much, but as long as you know where it’s going to end up, and how it’s going to slide, then I think it’s fine.
“Now we need to get on top of the sliding and reduce it and I think we will pick up some pace, then we should be in a good position.”
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Verstappen remains confident though, stating: “For sure they will come close to us in qualifying with the engine modes, but I’m sure we can do better.
“It’s pretty good. I didn’t really have a lot of problems, that of course helps a lot on a street circuit.
“The car even comparing to last year has been a massive step forwards, in terms of how I feel in the car. It always helps.”
