F1 champion Max Verstappen prompts overnight Red Bull change at Monaco Grand Prix

Max Verstappen in Imola — Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull

Max Verstappen prompts overnight Red Bull change at Monaco Grand Prix

Max Verstappen was not happy in Monaco on Friday

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 23 May 2025 22:58

A statement from four-time world champion Max Verstappen has prompted an overnight change at the Monaco Grand Prix from his Red Bull Formula 1 team.

Verstappen headed into the Monaco GP weekend on a high following a brilliant victory in Imola GP last time out which has kept him in the hunt for a fifth consecutive world title.

F1 RESULTS TODAY: Max Verstappen suffers embarrassing defeat as Red Bull star crashes TWICE at Monaco Grand Prix

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However, this weekend in Monaco did not get off to the best of starts, with Verstappen and Red Bull once again looking off the pace, the Dutchman putting in a time only fast enough for 10th in FP2.

The 27-year-old was also clearly not happy with his visor during the second practice session, taking to team radio to question engineer Gianpiero Lambiase over whether he was using the same visor as he had in FP1.

Later on in the session, amid some slow lap times for the four-time champion, Verstappen suggested over team radio that Red Bull needed to make an instant change for the rest of the weekend.

"I think there was definitely something wrong with those tear-offs," he said to Lambiase. "Like the quality of that was really bad."

Lambiase then replied: "Copy that, we’ll sort overnight," confirming that Christian Horner's F1 outfit would see to it that Verstappen did not face the same issue heading into competitive qualifying on Saturday.

Verstappen looking to continue fine form

Despite Red Bull clearly lacking pace to McLaren in the early part of the season, Verstappen has still managed to pick up two wins, and two second-place finishes from the opening seven grands prix of the campaign.

That has kept him in the hunt for a record-equalling fifth title in a row, sat just 22 points behind Oscar Piastri and nine behind Lando Norris.

Verstappen's qualifying form in 2025 has been scintillating, picking up three of the seven poles, and he will know that another pole in Monaco will likely give him a third victory of the season too, due to the nature of the track.

There was a lot of shade on the track during FP2 due to the early evening start time of the session, and this may have further explained the problems Verstappen was experiencing with his visor.

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F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Monaco Grand Prix Gianpiero Lambiase