Max Verstappen poorly rewarded in the Principality

Clearly, Monaco does not want to smile at Max Verstappen. Favorite for pole and victory in 2018, the Dutchman lost everything in an accident in free practice 3, preventing him from competing in qualifying before only finishing 9th after a good comeback.

This year, without having the status of favorite for the princely event, the son of Jos Verstappen was expected to be one of the main opponents to the domination of the Mercedes. 3rd on the starting grid, the driver Red Bull had almost taken the advantage over Valtteri Bottas at the first corner before finally overtaking the Finn during the pit stop.

But a procedure where the Dutchman was released by his team in a way deemed dangerous by the FIA, Verstappen coming to press Bottas against the pitlane wall. “The penalty is regrettable, but I think the team did not make a mistake, believes the resident of Milton Keynes.

It is impossible to see in this very narrow pit lane. » The 5″ penalty imposed on the former driver Toro Rosso will ruin his chances of a podium, despite a second part of the race spent harassing the leader Lewis Hamilton, delicate with its tires.

“I gave it my all today and had a fun race, continues Verstappen, 4th under the checkered flag. I think we were very competitive and I liked to put the pressure on. You know when you face Lewis it will be very difficult, but I was always pushing him and trying to force him to make a mistake.

I made him use his tires a little more than he wanted, which allowed me to attack. At one point I could see his tires really degrading and there were a few corners on the track where he was really slow, which meant I could try something, but we just couldn't get close enough.

When you look at our pace, we were very strong and that’s the most important thing. Of course, I would have liked to be on the podium but I enjoyed the race. You win some, you lose some. It's easy to say that with a few more laps I would have passed, but I did my best and that was all I could do. »

Discover the full report and analysis of the Monaco Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in the Principality, in issue 2218 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version, and this Wednesday on newsstands.