Max Verstappen says his Red Bull’s engine “just died” at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix, causing him to retire early.
Verstappen and Red Bull defied expectations by battling for pole at the Monaco street circuit, with the four-time world champion edging out both Ferrari drivers before being pipped for pole by Mercedes and Kimi Antonelli.
But the Dutchman’s Sunday afternoon in the Principality was short-lived, as he stopped at the start, swerving to avoid being hit by the chasing pack. “Yeah, great. Completely ****. Guys, what the hell, man?” a frustrated Verstappen radioed.
After getting going again, Verstappen was forced to take his Red Bull back to the garage for a DNF on Lap 1.
Explaining his problems after the retirement, Verstappen said he had already had engine concerns on the formation lap, so stalling at the start didn’t take him completely by surprise.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / LAT Images via Getty Images
“The formation lap was not going very well and after that the pre-start phase was terrible,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1. “There was just no consistency and then the engine just died. I only got a little bit of power back after the first corner and then the engine sounded really horrible. It couldn’t go flat out so we took it back (to the garage) and that was it.”
F1 crosses the border into Spain next week for the Barcelona Grand Prix, which Verstappen believes will be a much better test of the progress of Red Bull’s improvements in recent weeks.
“It’s a completely different track, so it will be a good test to see if we really took a proper step forward or not, because there everything is about high speed and aerodynamic performance,” he added. “So it’s going to be an interesting weekend.”
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