The RB20’s ineffectiveness in Monaco was a tough pill to swallow for Red Bull. The bumps and curbs of the narrow street circuit even left Max Verstappen stupefied. Such tracks have been Red Bull’s kryptonite in the ground-effect era. Canada’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is similar in its bumpy nature, which made Helmut Marko predict another “difficult” weekend for them.

After the Monaco GP disaster, Marko revealed how their problem started in the simulator. “(The simulator) signaled that the car goes over the curbs perfectly,” he explained. But the reality didn’t correlate. The 81-year-old declared that solving this issue would be Red Bull’s top priority before arriving in Montreal. Following this, Max Verstappen took matters into his own hands.

“Following a more difficult weekend in Monaco, this week, I have been with the team back at the factory and in the sim preparing for the Canadian Grand Prix,” the 3-time champion revealed. “The track there is very unique, has some old-school curbs and there are plenty of opportunities for overtaking. It is even more important to have a good setup of the car and find a balance between the straight line speeds as well as good stability under the braking.”

With the Dutchman himself taking the helm of Red Bull’s development efforts, what could go wrong? Though their problem statement is clear, Verstappen is still skeptical about the Canadian GP.

Max Verstappen expects unpleasant “surprises” in Canada

In 2023, Max Verstappen revealed that he experienced the first of Red Bull’s few difficulties in Canada. The reigning World Champion found his RB19 “not fantastic” over the bumps and curbs. Evidently, this issue has dragged into 2024. Though the Dutchman eventually won in Montreal last year, the radical RB20 design has only worsened their problems.

“We have to wait and see,” Verstappen said ahead of the Canadian GP, as quoted by Express. “New surface as well, I think, that might also give us some surprises. But it is probably also not going to be our strongest weekend because of that,” he dismally said, adding, “but probably a little bit better than Monaco.”

Sergio Perez, fresh off the 2-year contract renewal, has also said that Red Bull needs to up their standards to pre-Imola levels. Can the Milton Keynes outfit sustain their lead this weekend? Or do Ferrari and McLaren have more tricks up their sleeve?