Verstappen fears from high kerbs in Montreal

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen has expressed his fears ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix after his RB20 struggled for pace on the high kerbs of the Monaco round.

Three-time world champion Max Verstappen started the third year of the new technical era of Formula One in great form, having won the opening two races. Although he was forced to retire in Round 3 in Melbourne, he bounced back with a string of impressive results in the following races.

However, Red Bull struggled for pace at Monaco with the team claiming that the high kerbs led to the unusual lack of pace in the Principality. The championship runaway leader stressed that it will be key to find a setup for the RB20 that will allow better stability over the kerbs.

"It is always good to be back racing in Montreal; the scenery is one of a kind, the atmosphere in the city is great and the fans are very passionate.

"Following a more difficult weekend in Monaco, this week I have been with the Team back at the factory and in the sim preparing for the Canadian Grand Prix. The track is very unique, has some old school kerbs and there are plenty more opportunities for overtaking. It is even more important to have a good set up of the car and find a balance between the straight line speeds as well as good stability under the braking.

Expanding on his team-mate's Sergio Perez freshly-extended contract, Verstappen said: "It is always good to be back racing in Montreal; the scenery is one of a kind, the atmosphere in the city is great and the fans are very passionate. Finally, it is great news that Checo has signed with the Team until 2026 and I am glad to be able to continue with the successful partnership that we have created over the past few years.

"We achieved a record-breaking season last year and the Team is very strong, so we are looking forward to building on this success into the next two years as well," added the Dutchman.

Having secured a two-year contract extension with Red Bull yesterday, Sergio Perez is intent on improving his current form after a string of difficult races.

Following a strong start to his season, he struggled for pace in Miami, and crossed the finish line in only P5 before he was promoted to P4 thanks to a time penalty for Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. He then displayed a disappointing performance in Imola, failing to secure a starting position in the top ten, and he only ended up 8th at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The last round in Monaco saw Perez fail to qualify higher than P18. With the challenging layout of the Monte Carlo layout offering hardly any overtaking opportunities, Perez was always going to face a challenging afternoon, but his race ended at the first corner due to a collision with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.

Expanding on his feelings after his freshly-extended contract, Perez said: "It feels incredible to be trusted by the Team to continue with them until 2026 and I am grateful for the confidence everyone has put in me. I am happy to be coming to Canada knowing I am staying with Oracle Red Bull Racing.

"It feels incredible to be trusted by the Team to continue with them until 2026 and I am grateful for the confidence everyone has put in me. I know we have a lot of work to do in the coming seasons but, more importantly, in the short-term. We need to get back to the standards we were setting before Imola and get the car in a better window to perform on both Saturday and Sundays.

"While the race was a disaster in Monaco, we were in the wrong grid position due to a poor qualifying and we need to solve that in Montreal. The Team and I want to be starting at the front of the grid come race day and the aim is to make our lives a lot simpler this weekend.