Verstappen Monaco Exit After Engine Drops Dead on Grid

verstappen monaco ended before it started for Max Verstappen, who stalled on the grid and retired at the end of his first lap. The Red Bull driver had qualified P2, but the Monaco Grand Prix closed with zero points and a second DNF of the season.

Monaco Grid Stall

Verstappen never got away properly at the start. He was forced to bring the car into the pits and stop after completing only the opening lap, turning a front-row chance into an early exit.

Kimi Antonelli took pole in Saturday's qualifying session, and Verstappen lined up behind the Mercedes driver after looking set for a strong result. Before the race, he was a two-time winner in Monte Carlo.

Verstappen Explains The Failure

He described the pre-start problem as strange from the beginning. “I think already the formation lap wasn’t particularly great, but then in the pre-start the engine was responding very weird.”

Verstappen said the car then gave up when he tried to launch. “Normally at one point you find your RPM target, but the engine basically was not doing that, and when I dropped the clutch it basically dropped dead.”

He added that only the battery was helping at one stage and that the engine sounded bad once power returned. Red Bull told him to bring the car back slowly because flat-out running would have destroyed it completely.

Zero Points In Monaco

The result added another setback to a season that has already included a retirement in China due to an issue with his Red Bull RB22. This Monaco DNF was his second of the year, and it came after a weekend he said felt promising.

“After such a nice weekend for us, you’d at least hope to be on the podium.” He added, “It’s painful for everyone.”

Verstappen also said, “I really hoped that I could do something, or at least make it an exciting race and try to put the pressure on because I really felt good this whole weekend, and now to basically come away with zero points is probably even more painful.”