From nine tenths off to the front row: Verstappen's Monaco turnaround
- Kavi Khandelwal
- 4 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Written by Kavi Khandelwal
Max Verstappen qualified second for the Monaco Grand Prix, just 0.043 seconds from pole position — a result that, as recently as Saturday morning, he could not have imagined.
Red Bull arrived in Monte Carlo carrying a familiar anxiety. Speaking ahead of the weekend, Verstappen had been candid about the RB22's struggles on bumpy circuits, acknowledging that the car's philosophy made finding the right setup balance a persistent challenge.
Friday had offered cautious encouragement — Verstappen finished third in both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2, close enough to Ferrari to suggest he remained in the fight. Then Free Practice 3 arrived, and the floor fell out.
Red Bull spent the morning session completely lost, with Verstappen openly struggling to find any consistency. Last-minute setup alterations were required to bring the RB22 back into a working window before qualifying. He ended the session fifth, 0.942 seconds behind pace-setter Kimi Antonelli — a gap that left Red Bull needing considerably more if they were to feature in the pole fight.
Verstappen said: "Quite a bit [surprised], after this morning — we were like nine tenths off. I was confident that we would make some improvements heading into qualifying, but not to fight for pole, honestly. When I jumped into the car, I was like, 'OK, let's try and recover a bit. Maybe top five, that was the target.'"
What followed was one of the more striking qualifying turnarounds of the season. From Q1 onwards, the car felt different — better balanced, more responsive, capable of the precision that Monte Carlo demands above all else. The middle sector remained a weakness throughout the session, where the bumps and kerbs along the harbourside section continued to cost time.
But Verstappen was the quickest driver through the first and final sectors in Q3, and when he crossed the line on his final lap, he had done enough to split only the Mercedes of Antonelli from the rest of the field.
"I mean, if you would have told me yesterday that we'd be on the front row, I would have definitely taken it," Verstappen said. "And also this morning I think we had quite some difficulties with the car, so heading into qualifying and being up there, I think was extremely positive."
The 0.043-second margin to pole was agonisingly small, and Verstappen was measured in his assessment of it. When asked whether he could identify exactly where the time was lost, his response was characteristically direct.
"I never do that, to be honest," he said. "It's close. Sometimes you are just ahead, sometimes you're just behind, that's life. But for me, I was happy with my lap. So when I crossed the line, I was like, 'OK, if someone beats that, fair enough.' We just came up short."
Verstappen also acknowledged the deeper challenge the RB22 still presents its driver. "Our car is still, when it's a little bit out, it becomes that complicated that you can't trust it anymore," he said. "It's sliding around and just not giving you the grip. If you then bring it into a window that works, it seems like you pick up a lot of pace around here."
That window, so elusive in Free Practice 3, had been found precisely when it mattered. The 2026 Formula One regulations have made these cars a different proposition around the streets of Monte Carlo, and Verstappen was candid about the added challenge they present.
"They are more on edge than the last few years," he said. "With the power that kicks in, the driveability, the shifts — it's all a bit different. But once you get on top of it and can get a clean lap out, especially in qualifying flat out on the limit, it's very rewarding when it goes well."
Sunday brings its own complications. Verstappen acknowledged that starts have become a more critical variable under the new regulations, with two cars behind him on the grid — Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc — well known for their ability to capitalise at Turn One.
The race is far from decided. But after a day that swung from deep uncertainty to the front row in the space of a few hours, Verstappen heads into it with something Red Bull have been searching for all weekend: momentum.
