Verstappen: We should be more compettive in Spain

At Monaco, with little chance of winning the race in the Red Bull RB21, Verstappen gave it his best shot, waiting until the penultimate lap to pit from the lead, hoping a late Safety Car would hand him the race. But it was not to be, and he ended the day P4, behind the podium trio who finished the 'race' as they started it.

Speaking ahead of Round 9 this weekend, the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, Verstappen said:
"Monaco wasn’t the most exciting race for us: we did everything right, but ultimately there wasn’t much more we could do in the race following the qualifying result.

"Looking to Spain, the final race of the triple header, we will hopefully see a better performance and something closer to what we had in Imola. I think we should be more comfortable with the car and therefore more competitive. The track has a lot of history and has long corners and high-speed turns, and is always a good circuit to drive.

"Spain is where I won my first Formula 1 race so I have many special memories there, and hopefully we can maximise our performance as best we can this week," concluded Verstappen, recalling his famous first Grand Prix victory in 2016, in his first race as a Red Bull driver. He also became the youngest-ever F1 race winner and youngest podium finisher at 18 years and 228 days.

Verstappen has finished on the Barcelona podium in the last seven consecutive Spanish Grands Prix, winning the last three editions of the race.

In the sister car, it's quite the opposite for Yuki Tsunoda, who is having a baptism of fire in the Red Bull team after years of prepping in the junior VCARB/AlphaTauri outfit. He has yet to prove he is much better than Liam Lawson might have been had he been given half a chance. And for sure, not better than Sergio Pérez, who got axed last year for doing the same kind of job in a car that only Max is capable of driving and winning with.

Looking to Barcelona, Tsunoda began by reflecting on last weekend: "We knew Monaco was going to be challenging after qualifying, and ultimately it was a very long weekend for us.

"But my focus is now on Spain and delivering a good result at this circuit. I like racing in Barcelona, I like the track here, and I like the Spanish food here! This is a track all the drivers know well, we have done a lot of laps here in testing previously.

"With the regulation changes it could make this weekend interesting. We’re hoping to be more competitive on this type of track, with the mix of corners and the long main straight, and I’m looking forward to seeing how we match up.

"It’s been a busy few weeks but it’s been nice to be back in front of European fans and closer to home. Hopefully, as a team we can put it all together and get a good result in Barcelona to finish the triple header positively," added Tsunoda, racing for the Bulls for the first time at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He is hoping for a first Q3 appearance at this track.