Max Verstappen heads ‘home’ to face McLaren challenge in Monaco

Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen speaking during the drivers' press conference at the Circuit de Monaco in Monaco, on May 22. PHOTO: AFP

UPDATED May 23, 2025, 12:09 AM

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MONTE CARLO – Defending four-time champion Max Verstappen heads “home” this weekend with renewed confidence in his car and team, but aware of the pitfalls ahead at this weekend’s 71st Monaco Grand Prix.

Boosted by the updates package that brought him his 65th victory for Red Bull, at Imola on May 18, Verstappen confirmed he is a contender for a fifth title in 2025, despite McLaren’s early-season domination. He won with ease at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari to move within 22 points of championship leader Oscar Piastri and just nine away from Lando Norris in the other McLaren.

He will now be hoping for more of the same at F1’s most fabled and glamorous event. But the two-time winner of the Mediterranean principality’s often-processional harbourside street race knows that rule changes and the unique challenge of Monte Carlo, where he has a penthouse apartment a stone’s throw from many of the other drivers, offer something unique to any other circuit.

The introduction of a mandatory two-stop strategy for both wet and dry conditions by ruling body, International Automobile Federation, and the confines of the unforgiving, narrow and twisting barrier-lined streets may encourage record 15-time winners McLaren to bounce back for a sixth win in eight races.

The champion team, with a fast, nimble car that has appeared to be dominant on circuits featuring slow corners, have not won at Monaco since 2008, when seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, now at Ferrari, was en route to his first title.

Red Bull’s influential team adviser Helmut Marko acknowledged their threat to his team’s hopes of claiming a fourth Monaco win in five years.

“Things could look very different (at Monaco),” he said.

“The car is doing what Max wants again, due to the updates, which have worked, but that was at Imola. Monaco is completely different with only slow corners and it could be much worse.”

Verstappen, too, admitted: “Last year, it was very difficult for us. I don’t expect it to be a lot easier this time around.”

The 27-year-old Dutchman finished sixth in 2024 when Charles Leclerc became the first Monegasque driver to win his home race in the modern era, a feat unlikely to be repeated due to Ferrari’s qualifying struggles in 2025.

For the same reason, Hamilton is not expected to claim a fourth win in the May 25 race, the second in a triple-header of three Grands Prix on consecutive weekends.

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All this suggests that Piastri, the most consistent driver of the season to date, has an opportunity to secure a first Monaco triumph with a fifth win of 2025, if he can fend off teammate Norris in what may be a close qualifying duel.

Norris has also never won at Monaco and has claimed only one podium, suggesting he needs to find a leap in qualifying pace to improve his prospects.

“It’s a circuit I enjoy. Last year, it was a really good weekend for me. So I am hoping to go one better. Obviously, it’s a two-stop race, so let’s see. I’m confident that we’ll be quick,” said Piastri, in his measured Melburnian tone.

Mercedes’ George Russell is also likely to be a contender through his strong qualifying form, with teenage teammate Kimi Antonelli one of six rookies facing the test for the first time in an F1 car. AFP

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