Sergio Perez, Red Bull Formula 1 driver, expects Monaco Grand Prix to challenge their dominance on the track. He believes that Rd Bull “will struggle a bit to show our strengths”.
Red Bull dominated this season with excellent performance on straight and in-corners with high speed. But Rb19’s characteristics will likely under perform on the narrow streets of Monaco.
Analyses claims that the rival teams have only one shot at claiming a single victory at Monaco GP. Perez admitted that the team will likely face a challenge at the track.
“We certainly know that it’s not our strongest circuit,” Perez said. “We know that we will struggle a bit to show our strengths.
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“I think come Saturday you really need that good warm-up on your tyre. That definitely is the key around here. Let’s say it’s not our strongest circuit, but we will see; it’s still Monaco and anything can happen.
“Certainly, I think Fernando [Alonso], the Ferraris, I do expect them to be quite strong as well – like they were in Baku – and also Mercedes can be in the mix.”
This season, Perez and his team-mate Verstappen manage to keep the crown of every race to themselves. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1 driver, managed to take the pole position for both the sprint and GP in Azerbaijan.
Verstappen shares the similar fear with his team mate. He believe a single mistake can cost the race because of the overtaking difficulty in Monaco.
“I think it’s going to be a little bit more difficult and closer together. But we still have a good car, it’s just trying to extract the most out of it,” Verstappen said.
“We know that over one lap it’s normally not our strongest point. But nevertheless we still took quite a few pole positions this year, so it’s still all possible. But yeah, for sure, here in Monaco can always be quite a surprise.”
Verstappen limited his opinion of low performance to Moanco’s specific track. Additionally, he is open to sacrificing one-weekend – if need be- over an all rounder car.
“It’s not only the car, it’s [also] the track layout,” Verstappen added. “The corners are so tight, so slow, that you sometimes require a lot of different behaviour of the car compared to normal tracks and also the way you have to drive it.
“Sometimes your car works perfectly for these kinds of conditions and sometimes it’s maybe not ideal.
“I prefer to have a quick car for most of the tracks. It’s not ideal for Monaco, but it’s OK. It’s only one race on the calendar.”
