Jos Verstappen hits out at Red Bull for favouring Sergio Perez in F1 Monaco GP

Reigning F1 champion Verstappen finished third in Monte Carlo ahead of his main title rival Charles Leclerc.

However, it was teammate Sergio Perez who claimed the victory after an aggressive strategy from Red Bull - 48 hours later, the Mexican penned a new deal.

Perez was the first to switch to intermediates on Lap 16, two laps earlier than Leclerc before switching onto the hards on Lap 22.Speaking on the official Verstappen website, Jos suggested that Red Bull should have gambled more with his son’s strategy in Monaco.

“As a father, I was also disappointed with the race,” he said. “Max’s third place was very disappointing. We all saw that it was a difficult weekend for him. It starts with the car, which simply doesn’t have the characteristics for his driving style yet. Max has far too little grip at the front axle. And especially in Monaco, with all those short corners, you need a car that turns very quickly. That was just hard.

“Red Bull achieved a good result, but at the same time exerted little influence to help Max to the front. That he finished third, he owes to Ferrari’s mistake at that second stop of Charles.

“The championship leader, Max, was not helped in that sense by the chosen strategy. It turned completely to Checo’s favour. That was disappointing to me, and I would have liked it to be different for the championship leader.

“Pérez actually won the race because of the earlier pit stop. The team can perhaps explain that as a gamble, but they had already seen, with for example Gasly, that the intermediates were the best option at that time. I would have liked them to go for Max, but of course I am not entirely objective.

“I think 10 points from Max have been thrown away here. Especially with the two retirements we’ve had, we need every point. Don’t forget that Ferrari currently has a better car, especially in qualifying.”

Verstappen insisted he was happy that Perez was able to win in Monaco for the first time in his career.

“Apart from all this, I am happy for Checo,” he added. “Winning in Monaco is of course something special and I hope he enjoys it. And from now on, it’s full focus on the next races in Baku and Canada.”

Verstappen also critical of race control

The former F1 driver was also critical of race control and their decision to delay the start of the race on Sunday.

Initially, it appeared that the FIA postponed the race start due to the weather but shortly after the chequered flag they confirmed a power outage was to blame.

“These days it seems that everyone at race control gets stressed at the first sight of a few drops of rain,” Verstappen said.

“Sure, it would have been a chaotic start and the teams would have been in doubt as to which tyre would have been the best option. But that is what people want to see. Now they just waited, then it turned out there were also problems with the starting lights. FIA or the organisation, whoever is responsible, should make sure there is a backup for situations like this and that the equipment is in order. 

“Now we get starts behind the safety car, which in my view takes the edge off. Especially on a circuit like Monaco. We live in a competitive, professional sport. Things like this cannot happen.”