Could Monaco be the first Grand Prix that Red Bull didn't win this season?

Max Verstappen was the fastest in the second practice, but the Red Bull car is not suitable for Monaco's street circuit. Photo: AFP/Andrey Isakovich

If a Red Bull driver wins the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend — he dominated every other race this season — the winner will not be able to make the team's already traditional celebratory jump into the pool on their floating power plant in the harbour.

The Monaco region is experiencing a severe drought and a number of measures have been taken to reduce water consumption in the Principality by 20 percent. Residents were advised not to wash cars or water their lawns. And in no case do not fill your pools.

Instead, Red Bull has filled its pool, which sits on the top deck of their giant hospitality area, with white plastic balls similar to those found in a children's playroom. square, completing the image with a mass of inflatable animals, flamingos and unicorns, as well as rubber rings.

This is of course a different kind. The question is, will the result be different here than anywhere else this season?

Red Bull&#39 Daniel Ricciardo celebrates winning the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix by swan diving into the pool at the Red Bull Energy station. Photo: Getty Images/Mark Thompson jpg» />This year's reincarnation was filled with white softballs due to the local drought

Max Verstappen leading in Friday's second practice session may have felt familiar. But there is reason to believe that Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez are vulnerable at this track.

Let's start with the fact that everyone is well aware that in Monaco it is almost impossible to overtake. Especially in the modern era. The cars are just too big and the street track is too tight and twisty. Even with a huge difference in speeds, this is a hopeless task.

This makes the Monaco qualification the most important qualifying session of the year. Get on pole here and you'll have a great chance of winning the race.

If you add the fact that this circuit is not particularly suited to a Red Bull rival who excels in medium to high-speed corners, you have the potential to be upset. «I have no doubt or illusion that the challenge will be much more difficult this weekend,» Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted on Friday.

Verstappen pushes rival Red Bull through the famous streets of Monte Carlo. Photo: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images/Hasan Bratic

Their rivals, notably Ferrari and Aston Martin, who looked very close in pace to Red Bull on Friday, are definitely interested. In a world where unicorns swim in the Red Bull pool, pigs can fly.

Verstappen was only 0.065 seconds faster than Charles Leclerc in practice and teammate Carlos Sainz was third fastest before a late crash at the exit of the swimming pool section caused a red flag. Alonso from Aston Martin was next, and the Silverstone team was openly confident in their chances.

Even Mercedes, with its new big upgrade package, will qualify with the spring step. They won't be claiming pole position, but the first day of their updated W14 package seems to have gone pretty well, as far as you can tell here.

Lewis Hamilton was third in first practice and sixth. in the second practice — only the impressive performance of Lando Norris in McLaren separates from the top four. Hamilton ended the day 0.498 seconds faster, and while he expressed disappointment when told how far behind he was, he has been noticeably optimistic since then.

Lewis Hamilton was generally pleased with how Mercedes' The new car showed itself in training in Monaco. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire

“I really had an amazing day,” said the seven-time champion. “I really enjoyed driving today. I want to say a big thank you to everyone at the factory because building, designing and developing a car [in eight weeks] is no easy task.

“Ultimately, this is not the place to test an update. But the car as a whole felt good. Too bad we weren't as close as I had hoped at the end of the session. But we definitely felt an improvement. We just need to squeeze a little more juice out of the car.”

Team mate George Russell had a tougher time, struggling with his setup. «I don't expect an easy day tomorrow,» he said. «Qualifying is by far the most important day of the weekend here.

«And that's the part of the weekend where we usually struggle with [race pace] if you look at the last 18 months. So we need to come up with something overnight.”