Verstappen tempers frustration after missing Monaco podium

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Max Verstappen insists he won't allow himself to dwell too much on the early pitstop call during the Monaco Grand Prix which saw him miss out on a podium finish to his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

The Red Bull Racing driver was running in fourth position when he was first to be called into the pits where he ditched his ultra softs for the super soft compound, prompting Mercedes to follow suit with Valtteri Bottas to cover him.

However, Ricciardo stayed out a further five laps than his team-mate and began registering fast laps, including a fastest lap, before pitting five laps later on lap 38 which saw him return to the race ahead of both Valtteri Bottas and Verstappen.

Asked whether he was surprised by the call to pit early, Verstappen cited the uncertainty of strategies his rivals were running behind.

"I don't know what's going on behind me, how many people are still in between if you do a stop, and there was still [Carlos] Sainz in between so that's always not great even if you want to do the undercut," Verstappen said.

"Let's say I jumped Valtteri then I would have got stuck behind Sainz, and you can't get past even on newer tyres. So after the last safety car I was on the softer tyre and as soon as you get within a second it's just really hard to follow and the cars are too wide so you can't do anything here."

Verstappen wasn't the only driver to be affected by an untimely pitstop, as Kimi Raikkonen also had his race compromised in a similar fashion.

Leading the race, Raikkonen was called in to pit on lap 34, while Vettel stayed out until the 39th lap before pitting, handing him the lead of the race.

"For sure he's also not happy," Verstappen continued. "And of course, today I'm also not happy but that's it. I'll try to have a better race next time."