Max Verstappen has expressed low expectations for the upcoming Italian Grand Prix at Monza, anticipating difficulties with his Red Bull car. Speaking on Thursday, he indicated that the track’s demands could expose weaknesses in the vehicle, leading to a potentially challenging race weekend.
Verstappen won here last year after claiming pole with the fastest lap in F1 history, making it three victories in the last four years revelling in racing on the absolute limit at full speed.
The four-time world champion said the new hybrid era cars are “inefficient for Monza” where long straights at high speed require more power than at any other circuit. “It’s going to be really painful,” he said. “You have to keep an eye on how much energy you are using and make sure you don’t push all the time,” he said. “On inefficient tracks, we just struggle to maximise what we have so I’m not expecting any miracles here and it will be a challenging weekend yet again,” he said. “We have to remain realistic and get to know the car better, so we know which way to go next year.”
“The cars are simply inefficient for Monza, but there’s not much point in staying negative. “It is what it is and I have prepared myself mentally for it. I know this weekend will be different to what we are used to. But this year he and his rivals will be forced to conserve energy and manage their cars on each lap. After crashing out of his home Dutch Grand Prix on the opening lap last month, he is hoping for a better result, but expects a difficult race. “The front running teams are bringing upgrades, so they’ll improve. We were already behind them, so there’s no reason to expect that the pecking order will be completely different.
Verstappen is sixth in the standings with 112 points, 130 behind leader Kimi Antonelli. str/dmc/bsp This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
