Former Formula 1 driver and Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, is concerned by the lack of grip the drivers had on the extreme wet tyres during the Monaco Grand Prix.
The start of the race in Monte Carlo was delayed by over an hour due to rain that had started falling just before 3 PM local time, and the drivers eventually started transitioning over to Intermediates around 15 laps into the race once it finally got going.
On the formation lap ahead of the start, both Nicholas Latifi and Lane Stroll hit the barriers and needed new front wings as they struggled to find purchase on the most grooved tyres in the range.
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As a result, Jos calls for changes before someone gets seriously hurt.
“I find it incredible to see how little grip the drivers have on the full wets,” he said in his column on Verstappen.com.
“This is not new during the last race but has been going on for a long time. Something should be done about it.
“They must ensure that the tyres can cope with three centimetres of water. We used to be able to do that too, back in the competition days with Bridgestone and Michelin.”
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly lost out on his final run in qualifying when team-mate Yuki Tsunoda collided with the wall and left a small amount of debris at the Nouvelle chicane, bringing out the red flag.
It was a perhaps hasty decision from the marshals to stop the session and this, coupled with the perhaps unnecessary initial 16-minute delay in Monaco, leads the Dutchman to suggest that there needs to be more composure in and around race control.
“Also, red flags come out very quickly these days. Tsunoda hit the crash barrier with his left front wheel in qualifying and a red flag was waved immediately. You are ruining it for the other drivers,” explained Jos.
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Max finished third after a tremendous strategy by Red Bull that saw them beat Ferrari to the win as Sergio Perez beat Carlos Sainz, while polesitter Charles Leclerc ended up fourth behind the reigning champion.
The 24-year-old had been struggling to settle into a rhythm all weekend, so Jos indicates that there is work to be done to get the car to his son’s liking.
“As a father, I was also disappointed with the race,” he explained.
“Max’s third place was very disappointing. We all saw that it was a difficult weekend for him. It starts with the car, which simply doesn’t have the characteristics for his driving style yet.
“Max has far too little grip at the front axle. And especially in Monaco, with all those short corners, you need a car that turns very quickly. That was just hard.”
Max now leads Leclerc by nine points in the Drivers’ Championship, with Red Bull 36 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ battle.