Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen were once again left frustrated on the streets of Monte Carlo as they once again missed out on one of their drivers finishing on the podium at F1’s most famous street circuit.

Last season saw Sergio Perez end up in barriers but Max Verstappen could only qualify sixth for the Monaco Grand Prix.

This year, Verstappen went one better in qualifying before being promoted above Lewis Hamilton when the Ferrari driver picked up a three-place grid penalty for impeding the Dutchman.

Oscar Piastri wasn’t happy with Verstappen during the race as he looked for an opportune moment to overtake his championship rivals after the double-waved yellow flags following Pierre Gasly’s collision with his Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

Red Bull tried some unique tactics to try and maximise Verstappen’s race, delaying his second stop for as long as possible in the hopes of benefiting from a red flag.

It meant he finally came in on the penultimate lap to allow the top three to finally overtake him, but Jenson Button believes that Verstappen’s biggest error came far earlier in the weekend.

Photo by Luca Martini/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Jenson Button noticed an ‘unusual’ error from Max Verstappen during Monaco Grand Prix qualifying

Button was speaking on Sky Sports F1 (25/5 4:26 pm) after the race and explained where he thought the four-time world champion went wrong.

He said: “It was a bad lap in qualifying, wasn’t it? The middle sector, he didn’t quite get.

“So, that’s unusual for Max, normally he maximises everything he’s given, didn’t quite get it in qualifying and that’s what put him back down into fifth and then obviously elevated to fourth with Lewis’ penalty and basically he finished where he started!

“He got the best out of it in the race, he tried something new, tried something different, but there was no red flag, so it never worked.”

It was then put to Naomi Schiff that Red Bull’s car doesn’t like slow-speed corners and she continued: “They don’t and I think that’s a characteristic problem of this car that leaves them sort of vulnerable in some circuits.

“But, it’s strange because some circuits they really do struggle, others they come alive.

“I mean, what we saw in Imola from Max and things like his lap in Japan, it’s not that the car doesn’t have pace, it’s just around a track like this he struggles a little bit more to get the confidence to push the car.”

Max Verstappen frustrated by missing out during ‘super important’ qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix

Verstappen was interviewed after the race and shared many of the same frustrations as those further down the standings.

Although the layout of the Monaco circuit didn’t suit the RB21, he did well to get the most out of the weekend, even if Norris and Piastri both increased their lead over him in the drivers’ championship.

Asked about his approach to Sunday’s race, Verstappen said: “There was nothing to lose, right? There was a big gap behind [me], like I said, I think I could have done four stops and still been in the same position.

“That’s Monaco for you, qualifying is super important, normally when nothing bad happens, of course, you don’t really move forward.

“And if you just do normal pit stops then you just keep your position and that’s exactly what happened today.

“I also don’t think we had the pace today to fight the guys ahead because every time I tried to stay with them, my tyres were wearing a bit too much and graining a bit too much.

“P4 is ultimately the maximum we could have done.”