Max Verstappen believes that Red Bull did not have the pace to challenge Ferrari for pole position in Monaco Grand Prix qualifying. The reigning World Champion qualified in fourth ahead of the race at the Principality, behind the two Ferrari drivers of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, as well as teammate Sergio Perez. The Dutchman had struggled for pace against the Ferraris and Perez in the sessions prior to Q3, but told media after qualifying that he hoped the front row of the grid was still possible. "So far it's been a bit tricky for me throughout the whole weekend," said Verstappen. "I think we could have done better than fourth. No pole position, I think Charles was too strong today but, at least would it have been nice to be second. "That's Monaco. You do one lap in Q3, and then of course there's always a risk of a red flag when everyone is trying to risk it all."
Verstappen: Improvements possible without red flag
The final moments of Q3 were interrupted by a red flag when Perez crashed into the barrier at Portier. Carlos Sainz hit into the stricken Red Bull seconds later, but the incident also impacted Verstappen's lap. The Dutchman was brought to a complete stop as the red flags were thrown to clear the blocked road. Verstappen added that improvements were possible thanks to a different approach to the final run, but the crash ended his hopes of improving on a fourth-place grid start. "In qualifying, you want to go all out, and it was getting a bit better and I do think that last one was actually quite good. I opted to do a little bit of a different strategy to the cars around me," he explained. "I was on a good lap until I got to that corner [where Perez crashed], and there was a bit of a traffic jam, so it's very unfortunate."
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