Red Bull has appeared almost unstoppable this season, securing victory in every race so far, with an impressive performance advantage over its rivals
As it stands, Red Bull has a 114 point lead in the Constructors’ Championship, far ahead of its closest rivals Aston Martin and P3 team Mercedes.
In the Drivers’ Standings, the title battle appears to be a two horse race between teammates Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, as they swap victories and P2 finishes.
However, this impressive run of form could come to an end at Monaco if Red Bull are to be believed, with Verstappen incredibly pessimistic about the RB19’s chances around the street track.
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“Probably the most difficult one to win,” Verstappen told Sky Sports when asked about his chances.
“Because you know that once you have a bit of a setback in qualifying, for example, you can’t really pass in the race. We’ll see.
“It needs to be like a severe disaster up front [to overtake], like last year. This doesn’t happen every year, especially with the weather involved. It can become a bit critical. If it’s just a normal straightforward race, normally there is not much you can do.
“I want to win, but I also know that it doesn’t give you any more [extra] points to win in Monaco, so it is what it is, you try to do the best you can and then you go again for the next one.”
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FP1 seemed to back up those concerns, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz taking P1, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in P2 and Lewis Hamilton in P3, while Perez took P4 and Verstappen had to settle for P6.
There’s no shortage of competition in the race and, with its tight twists and turns, victory could come down to the experience of the drivers, rather than the performance of the car.
Mercedes have brought an upgrade package in a bid to become more competitive, Aston Martin have made no secret of their ambition to secure victory in the principality and Charles Leclerc will want to take victory for the first time in his home race.