Max Verstappen makes feelings clear on Red Bull team radio at Monaco GP

Max Verstappen demanded that Red Bull mechanics change his car after a series of team radio messages at the Monaco Grand Prix. The Dutchman repeatedly moaned about a lack of grip in FP1 and made his feelings clear to his engineers.

After struggling early on in the session, Verstappen told race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase: “Ah mate, I want to box. I’m going to shunt like this with the car setup like this.” After visiting the garage for tweaks, Verstappen was sent on his way but quickly made clear the issue had not been solved.

He added: “Yeah it’s a little bit better on the rear but yeah it’s still doing all the same things on the bumps. It’s really not good.”

The reigning champion also complained his car was bottoming out and revealed there was an issue with the clutch pedal. He later added: “Yeah, the car in high speed places is unbelievably difficult to drive.”

Verstappen lost control of the rear end on the exit of the swimming pool chicane with just ten minutes remaining in the session. Cameras then caught Verstappen flicking his hand in anger as he was forced to abandon his lap.

Sky Sports F1 commentator Anthony Davidson said Verstappen’s body language spoke volumes. Davidson explained: “He’s frustrated. He’s very frustrated The body language inside the car. He threw his hand up in the air.

“His head went down as well… he is not happy inside that number one Red Bull car.” Verstappen was only quick enough for P6 in FP1 while team-mate Sergio Perez was fourth.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was quickest followed by Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. Red Bull had predicted they would struggle in the Principality with the car unlikely to be as competitive as at other circuits on the calendar.

Perez confirmed the team would “struggle to show our strengths” and highlighted the importance of qualifying on Saturday. Verstappen backed up the Mexican’s thoughts and shared how difficult it would be to get past their rivals in the Grand Prix. 

He commented: “We’ve not been, let’s say, very dominant in qualifying. We have always been very good in the race, but in the race here we know we can’t pass.

“It’s very important to have a strong qualifying and make sure the car is in the best window it can be for one lap performance because that’s what this weekend is all about.”