The kangaroo Verstappen
“I’m jumping like a kangaroo. I’m getting a headache. It’s crazy“. This team radio, uttered by Max Verstappen during the second free practice session on Friday in Monaco, was the perfect synthesis of the thoughts and state of mind of the Dutch champion, who in the usual interviews appeared extremely pessimistic in view of the rest of the weekend. Already on Thursday, concern had filtered through from Red Bull and from Verstappen himself, but apparently the putting on the track of the RB20 on the streets of the Principality made expectations even worse.
Worst possible scenario
“I don’t think I can describe what’s happening – explained the world champion to the official F1 channel – It’s not something I wasn’t expecting, but we are certainly at the high end of the worst possible outcome. The track has many bumps, curbs and camber changes that are virtually impossible for us to negotiate. Every time we drive over it we lose a lot of lap time because the car doesn’t drive well. At the moment this prevents us from going faster“.
Difficult ascent
To those – legitimately skeptical – who point out to Verstappen that even at Imola the Red Bull seemed adrift and then he obtained pole position and victory, the Dutchman’s reply is immediate: the problem, according to him, is not the setup, but the very conformation of the single-seater: “I believe there is no clear direction or solution for the weekend to try to solve a problem like this – he concluded – this type of thing cannot be solved with the set-up, because the car is made and designed like this. These are not things that can be changed overnight. We are stuck in this situation“. The answer will come today, at 4.00 pm, with the qualifications.
