Max Verstappen handed massive blow ahead of Monaco GP

Helmut Marko needed little time to temper the glow of Max Verstappen’s commanding win in Italy.



“The car is now doing what Max wants again,” he told Austrian outlet OE24. “That’s down to the updates, which have thankfully worked.”



Seconds later came the warning: “That was just Imola, things could look very different again at the next Grand Prix.”



Slow-corner doubts cloud Monte Carlo



Red Bull’s senior advisor pointed to Monaco’s tight hairpins and endless low-speed traction zones.







He labelled the principality “a completely different circuit with only slow corners” before cautioning, “Things could be a lot worse there.”



Last season the RB20 laboured to sixth on the grid and finished P6, exposing a rare low-speed weakness that McLaren exploited again in Miami earlier this year.



Updates restore faith—but only on fast tracks



Verstappen’s overtake around the outside of Oscar Piastri at Tamburello illustrated a nimble RB21 finally free of the under-steer that plagued it in April.



The Dutchman narrowed his title deficit to 22 points with that second win of 2025, prompting inevitable questions about a fifth straight championship.



Marko pushed back, insisting the title fight will hinge on versatility across 24 races, not one soaring Sunday in Emilia Romagna.



Verstappen echoes the cautious line



“This track has quite a few high-speed corners, which I think our car likes,” Verstappen said after stepping off the Imola podium.



“[The next race in] Monaco is, of course, very, very different. So, let’s see how we are going to perform there. Last year was very difficult for us. I don’t expect it to be a lot easier this time around because there’s, of course, a lot of low speed, but we’ll see.



“I mean, it’s just one race on the calendar, where you try to do the best you can.”



Drivers’ skill could swing the balance



Marko concedes Monaco lets raw talent shine: “Max proved once again with his manoeuvre at the start that he is the best: only he can recognise the gap and then exploit it.”



If Red Bull’s balance falters in the hairpins, Verstappen may still salvage points through qualifying heroics and pit-wall precision.



But with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris excelling in slow-speed grip, and Ferrari desperate for a home-continent rebound, Red Bull enter Monte Carlo aware that Imola’s comfort zone will not follow them to the Riviera.
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