Max Verstappen is not a ray of sunshine today. First he complains about his clutch and then about the dampers on the rear: they would always be at the end of the suspension travel. When he hears other drivers’ lap times on the radio, he says, “Yeah, that’s irrelevant if the car isn’t performing.” He hears back over the radio that they can’t do anything about it from a distance.
Max Verstappen is clearly not happy with the car, but the mechanics seem to have less urgency. With 42 minutes to go, Verstappen asks if he can finally go in, because something really needs to be done differently. At that moment Verstappen has the third fastest time and Pérez is in position eleven. So it’s not that bad after all.
The improvements don’t work
After a while, Max comes out again. He reports that it is slightly better, but the car is not yet behaving as the driver wants. The car is not good especially on bumps – and there are quite a few of those at Monaco. The mechanic reports on the radio that Max just has to learn to live with it for this session. Perhaps there is improvement in the second training.
A spin from a Haas gives Verstappen another chance to go inside. When Verstappen comes back on track with about fifteen minutes to go, Alonso is in first place with Hamilton in second. Pérez is now bivouacing on P3. And even after the new changes, the rear seems to lack traction for Max.
Verstappen is not the only one complaining about his car. Norris and Russell can’t find their way in the streets of Monaco either. Albon finally loses control in the last four minutes and breaks off his two left wheels in a crash.
Monaco’s first free practice session ends early due to the crash. Whether Verstappen had been faster than his teammate, we will not know. Fortunately, we still have two practice sessions and one qualifying to go.
Results first free practice Monaco 2023
01. Sainz
02. Alonso
03.Hamilton
04. Perez
05.Leclerc
06. Verstappen
07.Norris
08. Ocon
09. Stroll
10. Albon
11. Bottas
12. Magnussen
13. Tsunoda
14. Gasley
15.Russell
16. DeVries
17. Pistri
18. Sergeant
19.Zhou
20. Hulkenberg
Timetable Monaco 2023?
Friday
2nd free practice: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Saturday
3rd free practice: 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m
Qualification: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Sunday
Race: 3:00 PM
#Max #dissatisfied #car #Monacos #practice