Verstappen hopes changes to RB22 will work: "That’s our weak point"

After putting in a great lap on Saturday to qualify in second place, Verstappen's Sunday in Monaco quickly turned sour. After the lights went out, the RB22 limped off the line. Luckily, all cars coming from behind were able to avoid the Dutchman, who brought his car back into the pit lane and retired after Lap 1.

After scoring his first podium in Canada and a good Saturday in Monaco, the season continues with Barcelona already by this weekend. Speaking to GPblog, among others, he began: "[It's important to get back to] the high-speed tracks, yeah, to see what we can do there. We've been quick on low-speed tracks with not too many high-speed corners, which I know has been, from what I've seen so far this year, a bit our weak point. So I hope with the change that we make to the car, it will be better, but I don't know, of course, how much."

It won't be the first time this season that the 2026 cars will take on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, after they completed the first pre-season test of the season there back in January.

The four-time world champion enjoyed the track, but highlighted that lifting and coasting will once again be visible. He continued: "It's a great track. I always like driving there, even though, of course, I think even this year we'll be lifting and coasting. That's a bit painful, but I just hope that our car will be performing well. I'm not expecting it exactly like it was here [in Monaco] to fight maybe for the front row, but maybe I can be surprised again."

According to the Red Bull Racing driver, whether he could fight for the biggest prizes will also depend on the development race. "It will all depend on the development throughout the year between teams. A lot of teams will still bring a lot of things," he concluded.

Verstappen's slow start in Monte Carlo was caused by a power unit issue, which prevented him from fighting for at least a podium last weekend and scoring important points for the team. However, Verstappen was not too frustrated after the result.

He continued: "Yeah, we had a really good weekend up until the race. Of course, everyone is very disappointed and not to be on the podium. There's not a lot of like turning around. It's just we need to make sure that, of course, we've finish the races. But we first need to understand what went wrong today."

The four-time world champion also admitted that the DNF is not as painful as it would be if he were fighting for the championship. "If I would be leading the championship, then of course it's a very, very painful one. Like this, less painful, but it's still really annoying and disappointing for everyone. We know, of course, everyone wants to finish every single race, but yeah, like this, I just hope that we understand quickly what it is and that we can fix it," he explained.