The day that witnessed Charles Leclerc’s lifelong dream coming true also saw Max Verstappen contrastingly get bored out of his mind. Since FP1 on Friday, the Red Bull driver struggled to control his RB20 around the Circuit de Monaco. The bumpy track and its multiple curbs were the RB20’s kryptonite, an issue the Christian Horner-led team couldn’t solve. Moreover, the unforgiving track intensified Verstappen’s ‘bathroom’ problems during the race.

After 3 troublesome practice sessions, the Dutchman could only manage a P6 in qualifying. When questioned if the slip-up in his final Q3 lap was his mistake, he replied, “I wouldn’t say so. I would happily invite everyone in this paddock to drive that car and try to go faster than me.” Unfortunately, his confidence in the statement didn’t help him translate the P6 into a better result on Sunday. He finished where he started – in no man’s land.

Because of Monaco’s narrow streets that prevent overtaking, many found it to be a boring race. Surprisingly, Verstappen was the first to highlight this on his team radio. “F*** me, this is really boring. (I) Should’ve brought my pillow,” he told GP on the team radio. But no sooner did he think of making his Red Bull a bedroom than he wished for it to have a toilet.

The bumpy Monaco GP circuit amplified his need to take a leak. “I had to go to the toilet from Lap 20,” the Dutchman said post-race. “That was probably the hardest thing of the race,” he added, emphasizing on how hard his Red Bull struggled to grapple with the circuit’s bumps and curbs.

It is uplifting to see that the 3-time champion didn’t lose his sense of humor even in a losing cause. Because there are more bumpy circuits to come in 2024, with the Canadian GP up next being one of them.

Max Verstappen urges Red Bull to overcome “big weaknesses” before the Canadian GP

Red Bull had very low hopes coming into Charles Leclerc’s home race in Monaco. Both Helmut Marko and Max Verstappen had declared that Ferrari was the favorite to win even before the weekend began. Moreover, Sergio Perez’s terrible P16 starting position getting worsened by a horrific Lap 1 crash derailed their outing in the principality.

“A lot of damage for us as well with Checo’s car,” Verstappen said post-race. “Overall, just a weekend to forget, but also a lot to learn from. The only positive thing I think that comes out of this weekend is we understand our big weaknesses. That’s what we really need to work on. If we can solve that or make it decent, we can immediately gain a lot of lap time.”

Canada’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve’s bumps and curbs troubled Verstappen last year. Moreover, unlike the 2023 RB19, the RB20 is a step down when it comes to such uneven tracks. So Ferrari has a chance to make it two wins in a row while McLaren will look to prevent them from doing so.