Max Verstappen’s Monaco weekend started with something Red Bull hasn’t always had here in recent seasons: a car he actually trusts.
Friday’s practice times won’t win anyone a trophy in Monte Carlo, but they did shift the mood. After arriving with the familiar caveat that the circuit’s bumps and kerbs can expose uncomfortable traits, Verstappen ended the day third in both sessions — and, more importantly, looked at ease doing it. In a weekend where confidence is lap time, that matters.
In FP1, he was half a second off Charles Leclerc’s leading Ferrari. By FP2, with Lewis Hamilton topping the session for Ferrari, Verstappen had trimmed that deficit to 0.168s. It marked his best opening day of a non-Sprint weekend in 2026 so far, a small but telling footnote given how often Red Bull has spent Fridays trying to “find the window” before it can even start thinking about the front row.
“It was quite a positive day, to be honest,” Verstappen said. “We felt quite good in the car, and it is particularly important, especially around Monaco, to have a positive feeling in the car. We just need to work to fine-tune a few things.
“Ferrari is looking really strong, so we will try to be as close as we can to them. We are happy where we are at the moment, but we are always trying to extract more from the car, so let’s see what we can do for qualifying.”
That last line is the key. Monaco is brutal on a car that’s slightly out of phase — a touch too stiff over the bumps, a front end that doesn’t bite on entry, rear traction that arrives half a beat late. You can be “close” on the spreadsheet and still be miles away in reality because the driver won’t commit. Verstappen, by contrast, sounded like someone already thinking in millimetres and small setup calls, not someone asking for a reset.
He also sounded like Verstappen. Asked by Dutch media whether he might wave at his home as he drives past — he’s one of several drivers who live trackside — he delivered a deadpan reminder of how quickly Monaco can punish.
“I don’t know, I haven’t thought about that yet,” he said. “Hopefully, I don’t park it in the wall on the other side. Then I’d be home in no time.”
It was a joke, but it also underlined the reality: in Monaco the line between a front-row shot and a ruined weekend is a brush of barrier paint. If Red Bull really has a platform that lets Verstappen lean on it, Ferrari’s Friday authority suddenly looks a little less comfortable.
Ferrari still left day one wearing the favourite’s tag. Leclerc led a team 1-2 in both sessions, and Hamilton’s FP2 benchmark backed up the pre-weekend feeling in the paddock that the Scuderia came here with something that works on low speed grip and traction — the core currencies around the Principality. The question now is how crowded the fight for pole becomes.
Leclerc, chasing what would be a fourth Monaco pole, didn’t pretend it’s just a straight duel with his team-mate.
“Max has been very strong. Red Bull have been very strong, and Lewis has been very strong,” Leclerc said. “I’m not so worried, but it’s going to be a tough qualifying for sure, and it will be very tight.”
That’s not the language of a driver who feels he’s got a cushion. Leclerc’s usually pretty good at projecting calm even when he’s twitchy about an outcome, and this read more like an honest assessment: Ferrari is quick, but not quick enough to relax. Not in Monaco. Not with Verstappen in range.
George Russell echoed the same theme from a Mercedes perspective — Ferrari in front as expected, Red Bull closer than anticipated, and everybody needing to find something overnight.
“Yeah, we expected Ferrari to be the guys to beat. A lot of people thought it was just chat, but clearly they are the team to beat,” Russell said. “I think Red Bull have also been a bit of a surprise for us.
“We knew out of the races so far this was going to be our most challenging. We need to make the same step again overnight and I don’t think we nailed it today. There is room to improve, but definitely Ferrari are the team.”
Monaco practice can always mislead — fuel loads, traffic, a well-timed lap versus a ruined one — but the broader picture is hard to ignore. Ferrari looks legitimately strong, as it has all season, and the car seems to generate its time in the places that matter here. Yet Red Bull’s story is the more interesting development: a Friday where Verstappen isn’t fighting the RB22, isn’t talking about survival, and isn’t leaving the paddock sounding like he needs a miracle.
Qualifying will decide the plot, as it almost always does in Monaco. But Ferrari’s “home” weekend just picked up an extra problem: Verstappen doesn’t seem to be arriving merely to limit the damage. He’s arrived believing there’s something to play for — and around these streets, that belief can be worth a couple of tenths on its own.
