Credits: IMAGO / HochZwei
Max Verstappen was nowhere near in contention for winning the 2024 Monaco GP, having started the race from sixth position. Before the lights went out, he knew he was in for a dull outing, but his comments post-race, which mirrored those of Lewis Hamilton’s in the past, suggest that he was more bored than he initially thought he would be.
Verstappen and Mercedes driver George Russell appeared together for an interview in the aftermath of the Monaco GP on Sunday. The Dutch driver said,
“I think George and I are gonna go for a run now. My god that was terrible. So boring”.
Overtaking in Monaco is difficult – sometimes regarded as near impossible – which takes away the element of racing away from the Grand Prix. Verstappen now knows how it feels to be stuck in a position for 78 laps, with nothing he can do to change the outcome of his race.
However, F1 drivers complaining how boring the Monaco GP is isn’t new. A three-time winner in the Principality, Lewis Hamilton once said, “I would be shocked if anyone was awake at home because I would have been asleep on the couch.”
For world champion-level drivers like Verstappen and Hamilton, driving in the same position for two hours without any clear opportunity to overtake would be frustrating. However, when they are in the lead, the mood changes.
Verstappen won in 2021, and again in 2023, and he didn’t complain about the race being too boring then. Similarly, another person who won’t complain about the 2024 Monaco GP being lackluster, is Charles Leclerc.
Charles Leclerc closes the gap to Max Verstappen
After five years of heartbreak in his home race, Charles Leclerc finally stood on the top step of the podium in Monaco. In doing so, he also closed the gap to Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship Standings.
The Dutch driver is now just 31 points ahead of Leclerc. And while that gap is still substantial, Verstappen is wary of the races to come.
After his dull affair in Monte Carlo, Verstappen admitted that he expects a similar outing in Canada in two weeks. Red Bull is struggling to deal with the kerbs and bumps on track. And Montreal having a similar layout on that front, could make things difficult for the Milton-Keynes-based outfit once again.
