Max Verstappen, the star driver for Red Bull Racing, expressed his concern over the team's handling issues after qualifying in sixth place at the Monaco Grand Prix. Verstappen struggled with the car's performance throughout practice sessions, as the bumpy and demanding street circuit proved to be a challenge for the Red Bull RB20.

Despite the team's turnaround in the previous race at Imola, where they overcame practice difficulties, Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez found themselves unable to outperform rivals Ferrari and McLaren in qualifying. Verstappen's initial lap in the final qualifying session was promising, landing him in third place. However, a brush with the wall at Turn 1's Ste Devote prevented him from completing a second lap, leaving him in sixth position overall, three tenths of a second behind Ferrari's polesitter, Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen acknowledged that his car's handling issues deprived him of the chance to compete for pole position. The Dutch driver revealed that despite trying numerous adjustments, nothing seemed to improve the situation. He emphasized that the car's instability over kerbs in the second sector of the circuit caused significant time loss and made driving extremely challenging.

"We tried a lot of things on the car and literally nothing made it better, so then you're just stuck," Verstappen explained. "In the second sector, we are so bad, just because I can't touch any kerbs because it just upsets the car way too much. You just lose a lot of lap time, and it's incredibly difficult."

Verstappen compared the handling issues faced in Monaco to similar problems experienced by Red Bull in the past, especially on low-speed and bumpy circuits. He pointed out that these issues were also evident during the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix weekend. However, in previous years, Red Bull's superior car performance often masked these weaknesses. With Ferrari and McLaren closing the gap, Verstappen believes that the team's vulnerabilities are now being exposed.

"This is not something new; we have had this problem since 2022," Verstappen revealed. "Of course, in the last few years, we have had a car advantage, so it gets masked a little bit because we gain in the corners where the kerbs and bumps are not so much of a limitation. But with everyone catching up, naturally when you are not improving your weakest point, you get found out, and that's what happened this weekend."

Verstappen's comments shed light on the challenges faced by the Red Bull Racing team and highlight the increasing competition from Ferrari and McLaren. As they work to address their handling issues, the team will need to find solutions quickly to maintain their competitiveness in the F1 championship.