Red Bull has impressed this season with its excellent stability in fast corners and at high speeds, but the qualities of its RB19 will play a lesser role on the twisty streets of the Principality.

With Monaco seen as the only track where its rivals have a chance of ending Red Bull’s race win in 2023, Perez admitted he expects the Milton Keynes team to struggle more than usual.

“Of course we know it’s not our strongest track,” Perez said. “We know we’re going to try to show our strengths.

“I think come Saturday, you really need a good warm-up on the tires. That’s definitely the key here. Let’s say it’s not our strongest track, but we’ll see; it’s still Monaco, anything goes can happen.

“Of course, I think Fernando (Alonso) and the Ferrari team, I do hope they will be very strong too – like they were in Baku – and Mercedes can also be involved.”

Red Bull Racing RB19 technical details

Photography: unconfirmed

While Perez and team-mate Verstappen have won every race so far, they saw their qualifying streak broken by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the sprint race and grand prix in Azerbaijan. Both got pole position.

Verstappen believes Red Bull’s relative weakness within a lap could have had a bigger impact on the outcome, as overtaking is next to impossible in Monaco.

“I think it’s going to be a little more difficult and more closely linked, but we still have a good car and it’s just trying to get the most out of it,” Verstappen told Autosport this weekend when asked about the team’s prospects.

“We know that within a lap, that’s usually not our strongest point, but despite this, we’ve managed a lot of pole positions this year, so it’s still possible. But yeah, for sure, in Monaco There are always surprises here.”

Verstappen said Red Bull’s lower expectations were due to Monaco’s specific track layout, which required different behavior from cars that favored lower-speed corners. But he’d be more than happy to sacrifice a weekend of his 22 seasons if it meant his RB19 was a better all-around car on a more conventional circuit.

“It’s not just the car, it’s (also) the track layout,” Verstappen added. “The corners are very tight, the speeds are very slow and sometimes you need the car to behave a lot differently compared to a normal track and the way you have to drive it.

“Sometimes your car works just fine in these conditions, other times it might not be ideal.

“I prefer a fast car on most circuits. It’s not ideal for Monaco, but that’s okay. It’s just one race on the calendar and we just want to get a good result. Of course I want to win, but if not That way, I get points.”