“Incredibly boring,” Max Verstappen claims red flag at Monaco GP ‘killed race strategy’ after finishing P6 in the race

Max Verstappen was not happy after the Monaco GP as the Dutch driver could only manage a P6 finish.

“Incredibly boring,” Max Verstappen claims red flag at Monaco GP ‘killed race strategy’ after finishing P6 in the race

Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)

Max Verstappen had a nightmare of a weekend in Monaco. The three-time world champion never seemed comfortable with the RB20 over the course of the weekend. The Dutch driver started the race from P6 and did not make any real improvement. Verstappen opened up about his rather uneventful drive after the end of the race.

The reigning world champion had joked on team radio that he should’ve brought his pillow for the race. Max Verstappen reaffirmed that the Monaco GP was ‘incredibly boring’ for him. The Dutch driver claimed that the red flag brought in after Sergio Perez’s massive crash essentially killed any sort of race strategy for the entire grid.

Incredibly boring. The red flag killed the whole strategy.
Max Verstappen said
YouTube video

Moreover, Max Verstappen claimed that George Russell who was in fifth place drove defensively in the latter half of the Grand Prix. The three-time world champion reckoned that the Mercedes driver was trying to make it till the end on the ‘more fragile’ medium tire. As such, Verstappen was forced to drive at Russell’s speed as there was no scope for overtaking.

FS Video
Russell drove defensively towards the end, knowing that the mediums are a bit more fragile than the hard tire. I couldn't overtake anyway, so I had to drive according to Russell's speed.
Max Verstappen affirmed

Max Verstappen claims staying ahead of Lewis Hamilton ‘didn’t make a difference’

Max Verstappen started ahead of his arch-rival Lewis Hamilton who was in P7. The two drivers maintained their positions till the chequered flag. However, Mercedes tried to undercut the Dutchman as Hamilton entered the pits lap before Verstappen.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (Via: Imago)

The three-time world champion recalled Lewis Hamilton’s early stop. However, Max Verstappen mentioned that he was able to stop right after the Briton which negated any threat of an undercut. Regardless, Verstappen claimed none of this made a real difference to his race.

Then behind me Hamilton went [into pit], we were also able to make a pit stop and stayed ahead of him. In the end, none of that makes much difference.
Max Verstappen asserted

Certainly, Max Verstappen and Red Bull have work to do after a disappointing Monaco GP. The reigning world champions will need to cover ground lost to Ferrari and McLaren. However, it remains to be seen if Verstappen can bounce back at the next round of the season and perhaps charge for victory once again.

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