Verstappen knew something was wrong before Monaco even began

A near-perfect weekend ends before Turn 1

Max Verstappen had done everything right in Monaco. A stunning qualifying lap had secured him second on the grid for the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix — a position that gave the four-time world champion a genuine shot at victory on a circuit where he has already won twice. The RB22 had felt strong all weekend, the confidence was there, and the opportunity was real.

A sudden engine failure left Verstappen stranded at the start, ending what had been one of his finest weekends of the 2026 season before he had even reached Turn 1. He limped back to the pits at the end of Lap 1 and retired, leaving the track with zero points and a deep sense of what might have been.

"During the formation lap I could feel that something was off"

The moment the lights went out, the RB22 simply refused to respond. "I dropped the clutch and it went dead and had no power. When I got a bit more power back, unfortunately it was messed up so I had to bring it back slowly."

It is a particularly bitter blow given that Verstappen had spoken so positively after qualifying, describing how Monaco's low-speed nature had allowed him to feel "like myself again" behind the wheel of the RB22 — a stark contrast to the power unit management demands that had hampered him elsewhere this season.

"Painful for everyone"

With Verstappen out, Red Bull's race fell entirely to Isack Hadjar, who battled through shifting issues, power loss and multiple system faults to salvage a podium — eventually confirmed after Pierre Gasly's post-race penalties.

For Verstappen personally, the sting of the lost opportunity was undeniable. "It was such a shame for us as everything was going really well up to that point. We felt great in the car all weekend and to come out with no points and to finish the race like this when you do everything so well as a team is of course disappointing."

He was equally candid about how much the result hurt on a personal level: "After such a nice weekend for us, you'd at least hope to be on the podium. We of course then retired basically straight away. It's painful for everyone."

Yet the Dutchman was careful not to let frustration spiral into unnecessary drama. "There's also no need to be super upset because I think everyone is already really disappointed about it," he said.

"It's just a shame for everyone. I really hoped that I could do something, or at least make it an exciting race and try to put the pressure on. I really felt good this whole weekend, and now to basically come away with zero points is probably even more painful."