From “a new back” to the front row: What’s behind Verstappen’s surprise Monaco pace?

Formula 1 qualifying around the streets of Monte Carlo produced three surprises at the front of the grid: two positive and one negative. The slightly negative surprise was that Ferrari failed to convert a very strong Friday into at least one spot on the front row.

Lewis Hamilton explained after finishing third that the balance of his SF-26 felt completely different in qualifying compared to earlier sessions, after which Max Verstappen told Dutch media that he was equally surprised by Ferrari’s drop-off.

“Mercedes made a big step forward and Ferrari maybe didn’t develop through the weekend as much,” said the Red Bull driver. “We’ve been a bit up and down, so yes, it’s surprising to me as well.

“It was much warmer today, at least the track was. The tyres are very sensitive and if you don’t get them into the right operating window, things can immediately feel a lot worse.”

The two positive surprises were Mercedes and Red Bull. Calling Mercedes a surprise may sound odd given the team’s form this season, but Toto Wolff’s outfit had plenty of work to do after Friday.

Verstappen missed out on pole position by the smallest of margins to Kimi Antonelli, although the Dutchman admitted he would have gladly accepted second on the grid before qualifying began.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

“Yes, and that’s obviously also related to where we’ve come from this season,” added Verstappen. “At first, you’re happy just to make it into Q3, then at some point you’re fighting around the top six, and now – well, not me – but some people in the team might be disappointed that we didn’t get pole.

“You also have to be realistic. This is simply a very good result for us.”

No need for a new back after all?

That is especially true because Verstappen had expected far greater difficulties beforehand. In Montreal, he told Dutch media that he would need to “order a new back” for the Monaco weekend.

Red Bull has not introduced any major changes since then, which raises the question of how Verstappen went from fearing back problems to securing a front-row start. Asked about that by Autosport, Verstappen explained that Red Bull mainly found a good way to run the car this weekend and managed to mask some of its shortcomings through set-up changes.

“You always have to run the car very soft here [in terms of set-up and the suspension],” he said. “In that respect it was a lot better than expected, but it’s still our limitation when it comes to going even faster.”

While Verstappen believes the track conditions may have caught Ferrari out to some extent, he does not think they particularly favoured Red Bull. “No, normally that wouldn’t be the case.”

Instead, he credits successful set-up changes made after a difficult third practice session. By running the car “as soft as possible” to mask the underlying issues, Red Bull managed to partially compensate for its weaknesses over bumps and kerbs, allowing one of the RB22’s strengths to shine through: the car has proven competitive in slow-speed corners.

Barcelona is the real test, says Verstappen

Spanish GP 2025

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

That undoubtedly contributed to Red Bull’s strong Monaco showing, but it is also why Verstappen does not want to get carried away just yet. Yes, the progress since the Miami upgrade package is real and significant, but after qualifying in Monaco he also offered an important caveat.

“Since that upgrade we’ve only raced on circuits with a lot of slow corners,” he said. “So we still need to wait and see. Barcelona is coming up and that’s the real test, where you also have multiple high-speed corners. We shouldn’t celebrate too early, next week is a completely different world.”

According to Verstappen, another important factor besides set-up and outright pace is that he finally felt like himself again behind the wheel, driving a car that allowed him to push.

That is partly because energy management is not a major factor in Monaco, but also because the Red Bull gave him enough confidence this weekend to really attack the corners. Verstappen stressed, however, that attacking corners with the 2026 cars is very different compared to previous generations.

“Yes, and a lot of that still has to do with the battery,” said the world champion. “The way the car downshifts, the engine braking, how the battery comes into play when you get back on the throttle. It’s all quite complicated, also working together with the turbo. Those are things you have to pay attention to now as a driver.”

Naturally, Verstappen will be aiming for victory on Sunday, but he admitted that he would not be disappointed with second place either. “If we can at least hold on to second place, then I would sign for that right now as well.”

Provided Red Bull gets away cleanly at the start, the pit stop phase may offer the only realistic opportunity to fight for victory. Verstappen is not convinced, however, that an undercut will necessarily be the most effective strategy on Sunday afternoon.

“If it’s possible, of course,” he concluded. “But I think an undercut will be quite difficult here because the tyres are very hard to get up to temperature in the out-lap. It also depends on how long the first stint is going to be, and that’s difficult to predict right now.”