Max Verstappen addresses persistent Red Bull issue

Max Verstappen insists Red Bull is not intentionally underperforming on Fridays in F1, a problem that has plagued the Milton Keynes squad over the past year.

Starting at last season's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, a glaring weakness for the the six-time constructors' champions has been its inability to attack F1 weekends from the outset, too often having to rely on significant simulator work prior to FP3 and qualifying.

Although it has on many occasions managed to work its way out of a hole, as was the case last weekend at Imola, it leaves the team on the back foot, which it sometimes cannot recover from.

The RB21, like the RB20, is notoriously difficult to get into the correct operating window, which is widely accepted as the underlying cause of the enduring issue.

Whilst the early promise of the upgrades Red Bull introduced last weekend suggests its car has taken a step forward in that area, Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda were left powerless to prevent another difficult Friday in Monte Carlo.

Despite the Dutchman going second fastest in FP1 at the Circuit de Monaco, he slipped down to tenth in the final hour of running. Meanwhile his team-mate was P14 and P11, respectively, in both sessions.

"I wish I knew why the Fridays are not always great," the 27-year-old told media including RacingNews365 at the Monaco Grand Prix. "We don’t do it on purpose, I swear.

"But it's been a bit more difficult just to get the car in the right window. I do think we learned quite a bit actually in Imola – what we want from the car.

"It's not always easy to extract that now on a street circuit compared to Imola, but it was a very useful lesson. It gave me more confidence to push."

Fixing the problem

Explaining the nexus of the issue and how Red Bull counteracts it, Verstappen nonetheless emphasised how well the team is able to respond to the early setbacks on F1 weekends.

"We do a lot of simulator work. Although we have the simulator drivers, we communicate what we want from the car, what we need," the four-time F1 drivers' champion said.

"Unfortunately, our car over the last year and a half – maybe two years – has probably had quite a narrow window. As soon as you're a little bit left or right, it becomes quite a bit more difficult to drive.

"That probably translates to a poor Friday. But the team is good at analysing and making the right calls for the next day. So, most of the time, we improve the situation – and in Imola, it improved quite a lot."