Verstappen prepared for chaos: expects an unpredictable Monaco GP

While he downplayed the importance of needing to win every race — noting even in title-winning years Monaco hasn't always gone his way — he stressed to the media the need to "maximise what you've got."

When asked by the media whether this race will be infamous due to its two-stop strategy as implemented by the FIA, Verstappen replied with "It might be, yeah. It might be interesting."

After qualifying yesterday, he predicted that it will be hard to understand the right strategy until the race unfolds, "Yeah, it's impossible to know at the moment. You have to wait and see what happens tomorrow. You just need to be prepared for any kind of scenario."

When asked how much time he’d spend with strategists the night before the race, Verstappen explained that the groundwork is mostly handled behind the scenes.“We’ll speak about it, but I think it’s more about tomorrow. They always do their thing overnight and then we have our feedback in the morning.”

With Parc Fermé rules locking in car setup after qualifying, Verstappen knows there’s little to do in terms of changes. The aim now is to hold position, react to unfolding scenarios, and hope fortune favours the bold.“You can’t touch the car anymore, so it will be just trying to stay with them in whatever way. And then hopefully get lucky, but again, I say get lucky now, but maybe tomorrow we get unlucky.”

It’s a pragmatic tone from the reigning champion, who understands that success in Monaco isn’t always about raw pace. With strategy, traffic, and safety cars often deciding the outcome, Verstappen is preparing for a reactive, opportunistic race — one where simply “maximising what you’ve got” could prove enough for a strong result.