Max Verstappen warns no quick fix to Red Bull woes despite “wake-up call”

Max Verstappen has warned Red Bull’s difficulties with kerb-riding and bumps “takes time” to fix following a difficult Monaco Grand Prix.

Verstappen’s sixth-place in Monaco was his worst on-track finish since the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix.

The result means his lead at the top of the championship standings has been cut down to just 31 points ahead of Charles Leclerc.

This weekend’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve isn’t expected to suit the RB20 once again, with kerb-riding a necessity to be quick in Canada.

While Verstappen believes Red Bull will eventually get on top of their key weakness, it will take some time to do so.

"This is something that we know is not our favourite thing in the world, but it is something that we are working on to try and make better," Verstappen said in Canada.

"It takes time, this is not something that is solved from one week to the next, but we will try and optimise things.  It has been a problem since day one of the new regulations - and it is not something that we have been able to fix yet.

“Monaco gave us another wake-up call and we've had lots of good meetings at the factory and I feel like there is a bit more focus now to try and improve that.

“Because you can't rely on your advantage, even if the kerb-riding is bad, so it definitely needs to be fixed, but it just takes time to make big changes on the car.”

Verstappen hinted that budget cap constraints might impact how quickly Red Bull are to solve their woes, suggesting it might not be until next year they can completely get on top of it.

"Some things are designed and they might have to be re-designed and you can't do that with the budget cap within one or two weeks," Verstappen added.

"We can still do a good job this year, if everything works out, but at the moment, we still have to try a few things and see what works best.

"For sure, I think some things will be different next year, that are maybe a bit more difficult to re-design this year - but I am hopeful and confident that we can do a better job already this year.”