'No quick fix' after 'worst possible outcome' for Verstappen

Max Verstappen was sounding the alarm at Red Bull after a difficult day for the team in Friday practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, which saw his car "bouncing like a kangaroo".

Verstappen was only 11th fastest in FP1, and while he improved to fourth in the second session he was no happier with how the RB20 was performing on the streets of Monte Carlo.

He made contact with the barrier on more than one occasion, the most significant of them coming at second Mirabeau when the thump on his left rear wheel was hefty enough to send him heading to pit lane to have the car checked over.

Verstappen said he was at a complete loss to know what was going on this weekend and why the normally formidable Red Bull was proving such a nightmare to get under control.

“I don’t think I even can describe what is actually going on, it’s just very difficult," he told the media in the paddock after the end of the day's two track sessions.

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“It was pretty difficult but we knew coming into the race this weekend that this might be the case," he continued. "It’s not something that I didn’t expect, but it’s definitely at the higher end of the worst possible outcome of the weekend so far.

“There are a lot of bumps, kerbs and camber changes as well in the track," he explained. "For us that is basically impossible to take. Every time that we go over it, we lose a lot of lap time, just because the car doesn’t ride it well.

"Every time that we went over a bump, the car lost a lot of lap time and on this track one small jump could result in you ending up against the wall," he said. “Maybe in that sense today was a good lesson.

“That's definitely hampering our attempts to go faster at the moment. There is also I think no real, clear direction or solution for the weekend to try and solve something like that.”

It's the second weekend in succession that Red Bull have struggled on Friday, although Verstappen doesn't think there is any significant connection behind their problems in Imola and what they were facing today.

“Imola was completely different, also different issues that you can solve with set-up,” he said. “These kind of things you cannot solve with set-up.

“It’s how the car is made and designed," he stressed. "These kind of things you cannot change overnight, so we are stuck with that. We’ll try to make it a little bit better but I don’t expect any miracles.

"We are looking into a solution ahead of the weekend to sort this out," he added. "It won’t be a quick fix but we are going to work on it overnight."

Last week the team bounced back on Saturday to claim pole andVerstappen went on to win the race on Sunday, thanks to work in the simulator back in Milton Keynes but that looks more difficult to pull off a second time this week..

Even more of a concern for Verstappen was is pace of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari who was comprehensively fastest in FP2, as well as a sudden improvement in form for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

"They [Ferrari] are miles ahead. I’m not even thinking about that for tomorrow, I just want to try and solve the issues that we have, try and make it a little bit more driveable, and then we’ll see where we end up.”

But despite all the problems, Verstappen was still enjoying driving the unique Monaco circuit. “I had fun driving," he insisted.

Verstappen's team mate Sergio Perez also struggled on Friday, finishing in P12 in FP1 and improving to just eighth in FP2.

“It is going to be tough this weekend," he admitted. "We are finding it hard to get away from our limitations at the moment."

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