Max Verstappen set third and fourth fastest times during the first two free practices in Monaco on Thursday. Where Ferrari started the race weekend positively, the Red Bull Racing team still needs to find some improvements to perform on Sunday afternoon.
The Dutchman is working hard to get back closer to Lewis Hamilton in the world championship, but also knows it won't be an easy weekend. "At the moment we are clearly behind," he stated in conversation with Olav Mol for the Formula 1 Cafe. "You can see it in the sector times. Everyone has a bit of a delay and then we are just way behind. We really still need to find something in the car to be ahead of Mercedes."
Verstappen started the first free practice with a longrun to get the necessary mileage. "You get your tyres assigned and of course you don't have unlimited soft tyres. That's why we started on the hard tyre. The track is a bit less then of course," said Verstappen, who was bothered by traffic on the track. "Some are better at managing traffic than others, but it is what it is."
Ferrari positive surprise
Ferrari showed positive surprise on the first day in Monaco. Where Carlos Sainz already secured the second place during the first free practice, the cars of the Italian racing team were even in place 1 and 2 a few hours later.