The obstacles of the Principality
Everything is ready for the eighth round of the season in Principality of Monacowhere Max Verstappen will try to reconfirm himself after the victory obtained last week in Imola. A track, that of Santerno, where the three-time Dutch world champion had however struggled especially during the Free Practice, with the Red Bull #1 fearing he could face another complex weekend in several respects: “Monaco is totally different from Imola, and looking at the track probably it won’t be our best track because our car normally struggles on dips and curbs – explained in the pre-GP press conference reserved for riders – we’ve been working on it a little bit, and so far I think in almost every track we’ve been to our performance in the low-speed corners has improved. I don’t think it will be an easy weekend: Monaco is never very linear even when you expect to have the best car because it is a very complicated track in making everything work. There may be red flags and other events that can upset plans. Things can go right or wrong, so we have to be on track.”
Imola and the return of the opponents
Verstappen’s fear, therefore, is to relive difficulties similar to those of the first GP on European soil, both due to the characteristics of the single-seater and the simultaneous progress of the pursuers of the reigning champion team: “Imola started very badly, but then we managed to turn things around – he added – I wouldn’t want to relive a weekend like that because it’s very stressful and not pleasantbut we know that this is one of the most difficult tracks for us. We’ll see what level we are at starting tomorrow. In recent years the Ferrari has always been strong here, and moreover there McLaren in the last two races he has made good progress in terms of performance and will be one to keep an eye on. There can be some surprises in Monaco: Ocon did a fantastic lap last year in qualifying, and unexpected things can happen when one feels good and has a lot of confidence.”
Called to give 100%
McLaren who, with Lando Norris, questioned Verstappen’s success in the final laps of the Emilia-Romagna GP, demonstrating the progress of the Woking team and other Red Bull pursuers such as Ferrari: “After Miami it was very clear that everyone had warmed up to us – he concluded – Imola wasn’t the easiest weekend and in Monaco it will depend on who manages to find the best set-up, but the values have certainly become closer. It’s important for us to be 100%, and that’s not always a realistic possibility, but we always try to reach a certain level. In the last few races we may not have managed to reach that level, but we try again every weekend to find the best possible set-up, but it’s clear that the others are getting closer. In Monaco it’s difficult to put everything together and get pole, I don’t want to look too far ahead. So far I’ve done very well in qualifying and I will clearly aim for pole, but here it’s never a given.”
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