(Motorsport-Total.com) – Most recently, Max Verstappen had openly questioned his motivation to drive a Formula 1 car that he hates. But in Monaco, the four-time world champion showed his best level and delivered a pole-level lap at exactly the right moment.
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Until championship leader Kimi Antonelli snatched it from him by a wafer-thin margin of just 0.048 seconds.
Just a few hours earlier in the third practice session, the gap had still been 0.942 seconds. But Red Bull pulled off one of those magic tricks and found a better setup before qualifying, making the RB21 less stubborn over the bumps in the principality.
“Quite strong,” Verstappen replies when asked if the car’s pace surprised him. “This morning we were about nine tenths behind. I was confident we would improve towards qualifying, but honestly not that we would be fighting for pole.”
“When I got in the car, I thought: ‘Okay, let’s do some damage limitation. Maybe top 5, that’s the goal.’ But quite early in qualifying, the car felt a bit better,” reports the Dutchman.
“We still have our little problems, especially in the middle sector we lose the most time. There are some kerbs you have to take, and a few bumps. For our car, that’s just a bit more complicated at the moment.”
“But overall, we had a very good qualifying. We were at the front, we were fighting for pole. Even if you had told me after yesterday, where we looked quite decent, that we would start from the front row, I would have taken that immediately.”
“So yes, for us it was a very good turnaround. Yesterday I was quite happy. This morning not at all – and now I’m quite happy again,” says the Red Bull driver.
This assessment, that the biggest loss is in the middle sector, is true. But Antonelli actually turned the tide only at the exit of the last corner – in a sector where Verstappen was faster overall.
No wonder then that Antonelli’s race engineer Peter Bonington later told Sky: “I didn’t think it would be enough. When I looked at the time difference, I thought: ‘It’s going to be close, but it won’t work out.'”
Verstappen’s advantage in the first sector
The data shows that Verstappen completed the first sector fastest: 18.827 seconds compared to Antonelli’s 18.934. Only about a tenth of a second difference, which should annoy Charles Leclerc, who was only five hundredths behind Antonelli in this sector on his last fast lap – before he touched the wall at the end of the second sector in Tabac.
Verstappen attacked the apex of Sainte Devote more aggressively, carried a bit more speed into the corner, and stayed closer to the inner kerb. This gave him a cleaner angle at the corner exit and minimally more pace on the first meters towards Massenet.
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Antonelli was able to partially make up for the deficit on the uphill section thanks to the Mercedes’ stronger acceleration.
But Verstappen carried more speed into the Casino Square area, where the track drops after the sharp right-hand corner. He chose a tighter line through Massenet and hit the apex of Turn 4 more precisely – with significantly less safety margin.
At the exit, it was extremely close to the wall, but Max trusted the front of the RB21 and committed early into this blind corner. This gave him a few car lengths’ advantage.
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Antonelli ahead in the second sector
A tighter line in the hairpin initially brought Antonelli back a few thousandths. Afterwards, the Mercedes’ better acceleration helped him again as they reached Portier and accelerated through the tunnel.
At the chicane, the balance of power shifted. There, the Red Bull appeared unstable over the bumps, both when turning in after the downhill braking zone and between the two apexes.
Antonelli lifted off the throttle minimally later and carried more speed into the first apex. Both drove millimetrically close past the guardrail – Antonelli, however, at a higher speed.
Throughout the weekend, Antonelli was able to perfectly utilize the inner kerbs of the chicane, even after driving over the higher “sausage” kerb. Verstappen managed this too, but Antonelli exited better and had a few car lengths’ advantage towards Tabac.
There, Antonelli again lifted off the throttle later and was minimally faster. 33.989 seconds compared to Verstappen’s 34.184 in the second sector. Hamilton was even faster here with 33.957 – another detail in Ferrari’s frustrating overall picture.
Third Sector: Verstappen fights back
In the last sector, Verstappen was faster overall – but not fast enough. With 19.083 seconds, he set the best time here, but Antonelli’s 19.128 was enough to defend the lead from sector two.
At the beginning, it looked different: Antonelli was first in the swimming pool section, but Verstappen carried about 7 km/h more through the second apex. This reduced the Mercedes’ lead until the next chicane, where both were roughly even.
There, it was Verstappen again who carried more speed – in a section that demands the highest precision and confidence. Before Rascasse, both were again even. Verstappen lifted off the throttle later and gained some time, which was enough to make the Mercedes pit wall nervous.
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But what Antonelli did next was crucial: He released the brake minimally later and got back on the throttle earlier, exited the tight right-hand corner better, and maintained this advantage until the last corner, Antony Noghes. There, the Mercedes engine power played into his hands on the way to the finish line.
In the end, he was 0.048 seconds ahead of Verstappen. “That was one of those laps we call a ‘magic lap’,” Antonelli says afterwards.
“I didn’t know how much I was improving,” says the Italian. “I only briefly looked at the delta time and then only saw where I was at the finish line. I didn’t know what time Max had driven.”
“It felt like a good lap, as if everything had come together. But I didn’t know exactly where I was. Especially sector two felt strong, and then I got confirmation over the radio.”
“Everything is so intense here that you just try to drive as fast as possible without making mistakes. And only at the finish line do you see where you end up.”
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