Credits: IMAGO / MAXPPP

For the first time in the ground-effect era, Red Bull looks to be in disarray. Max Verstappen is struggling with the handling of the car and Sergio Perez is struggling to match his teammate, adding to the problems for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. After the team’s qualifying disaster class in Monaco, Verstappen points out one factor that shows just how weak the team was.

The Dutchman reminds Viaplay of how good Perez usually is in street circuits. Perez, a previous winner of the Monaco GP (2022) couldn’t even make it out of Q1 and finished P18 in the lap-timing chart. “When you are P18 and P6, that just shows we performed disastrously.”

Verstappen was referring to his starting position, which will be from the third row (P6). On any other circuit, the #1 driver would have been bullish about the RB20’s race pace bailing him out.

However, he has already accepted the fact that there isn’t much he can do on Sunday, owing to Monaco being a track extremely difficult to overtake.

Perez, on the other hand, may find it difficult to even get into the points. Thanks to the Haas cars’ disqualifications in Monaco, Perez will get to start from P16. But, making six places in a circuit like Monte Carlo, will need outside factors to play a major role.

Red Bull’s biggest problems in Monaco

Red Bull never appeared to be confident of their chances in the Principality. Team Principal Christian Horner admitted that Ferrari would be the favorite, and Helmut Marko predicted Max Verstappen’s run of eight consecutive pole positions to come to an end.

From the very get-go, Verstappen and Perez were struggling with the handling of the car. It was difficult for the Red Bull drivers to use the kerbs to their advantage, and the bumps were hindering their pace. The second and third sectors of this famous circuit in particular, affected Verstappen and Perez.

The Dutchman, however, insists that he wasn’t in his off-game on Saturday. After the session, when reporters asked him, if it was his first ‘mistake’ of the season, Verstappen replied, “I would happily invite everyone in this paddock to drive that car and try to go faster.”

Safety cars and red flags aren’t uncommon in Monaco. And to have a glimmer of hope of making it into the top three come the end of the Grand Prix, the 26-year-old will be praying for the same.