Watch: Max Verstappen sarcastically clapping and showing thumbs up to Franco Colapinto during F1 Monaco GP FP1
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen sarcastically applauded Alpine driver Franco Colapinto during the FP1 session at the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix on Friday. The Dutch driver made a strong start to the weekend in the principality as he finished P2 behind Ferrari driver and home hero, Charles Leclerc, in his RB21.
The four-time F1 world champion was apprehensive about the Austrian team's performance heading into the weekend due to the low-speed weakness of the 2025 challenger.
Despite showing an impressive turn of speed around the streets of Monaco, Max Verstappen was left frustrated on several occasions due to other drivers impeding his fast laps. He was caught out by the slow-moving Gabriel Bortoleto in the swimming pool section in the FP1 session.
However, he was less appreciative of Alpine driver Franco Colapinto blocking his lap in the first sector and gave a sarcastic thumbs up and applause directed toward the Argentine.
Max Verstappen has taken pole position just once in the streets of the Principality in 2023, despite winning the race on two occasions in 2021 and 2023.
Max Verstappen previews the challenge of the Monaco GP
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that mastering the Monaco circuit remained an "insane" challenge as he previewed the weekend ahead.
Speaking with F1.com, the 27-year-old reflected on the track and said:
"I think it’s just how difficult the track is to master in Qualifying. Knowing that overtaking is difficult on Sunday, you know Qualifying is more important. It’s challenging, bumpy, there’s the history… It’s one you want to win. It’s pretty insane, to be honest."
However, he was downbeat about his chances of replicating his previous success in Monaco and added:
"If you take the average of Miami and Imola, I don’t think we look that great. I know this is a very different track. We’ve only been properly competitive on high-speed tracks so far this season. Monaco isn’t a high-speed track… I’m a little bit more reserved. I have no idea where we are."
"We learned a lot in Imola. It was a very useful lesson. It definitely gave me more confidence to push. We do a lot of simulator work. Unfortunately, I think our car for the last one-and-a-half, two years, has been in a very narrow window. That sometimes translates to a poor Friday, but the team are good at analysing things and making the right calls for the next day," he further mentioned.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull would look for a similar turnaround in Monaco as they finished P10 in the FP2 over seven tenths behind Charles Leclerc's fastest time in the session. The Dutch driver was closely followed by his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who finished a few hundredths behind the former at the track.