MONACO — Max Verstappen said Charles Leclerc is already “miles ahead” in the battle for pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix after the Red Bull driver finished Friday practice 0.535 seconds off the pace of the Ferrari.
Championship leader Verstappen was fourth fastest overall and doubts Red Bull will be able to make much more progress ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session.
Asked if Ferrari’s advantage was representative of the true picture, Verstappen said: “Ferrari is miles ahead. I’m not even thinking about that.
“I just want to solve the issues that we have to make it more drivable. Then we’ll see where we are. I don’t expect miracles.”
Verstappen said his Red Bull was struggling to ride the bumps and kerbs around the Monaco street circuit.
“I don’t think I can describe what is going on. It is very difficult,” he said. “It’s not something that I did not expect. But it’s at the higher end of the worst possible outcome of the weekend so far. Difficult.
“A lot of bumps, kerbs, and camber changes on the track. For us, it is impossible to take.
Every time we go over it, we lose a lot of lap time. Because the car doesn’t ride well. It is hampering us, at the moment, to go faster.
“There is no clear direction or solution for the weekend to be able to solve something like that.”
Verstappen had a difficult Friday practice last weekend at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, but setup changes overnight improved the car’s performance and allowed him to take pole position ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Asked if a similar pattern could play out this weekend, Verstappen added: “Imola was completely different. Different issues that we could solve with set-up. These issues we cannot solve with set-up because it’s how the car is made and designed.
“These things you cannot change overnight. We are stuck with it. We will try, but I don’t expect miracles.”
Leclerc was confident after Friday practice, saying he has more in reserve with a perfect lap.
“It’s important to keep this rhythm into final practice [ahead of qualifying],” Leclerc said. “The way Monaco is, I might have taken more risk compared the others today, which paid off.
“But it’s about tomorrow when everybody starts to go on the limit. Until now, we have done…
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