Max Verstappen shut down all claims of Red Bull’s potential weakness at the Monaco GP by getting the pole position ahead of Sunday’s race. His teammate Sergio Perez on the other hand, wasn’t as fortunate as a crash in Q1 ended his session early. Fans, however, don’t think it was Perez’s fault. Instead, they blame the infamous Nico Rosberg curse.
2016 F1 world champion Rosberg, has been part of a long-standing joke involving fans on social media. Whenever the German supports a team or an athlete, they seem to lose the following game. It happened in several instances in the past, and fans are once again trying to bring the narrative into what happened with Perez on Saturday.
Argentina has the Drake AND Nico Rosberg curse I’m crying pic.twitter.com/KC0hIYiDDi
— t 🌿 (@formullana) December 18, 2022
Rosberg, who resides in Monaco itself, was in attendance in the F1 paddock during qualifying. Fans saw the former Mercedes driver and were happy to see him back around the sport’s ecosystem. However, right when Perez crashed, some fans brought up the topic of the ‘Nico Rosberg Curse’ once again.
Nico Rosberg curse strikes Sergio Perez in Monaco
Perez was in a good position to challenge for the front row alongside his teammate Verstappen during qualifying on Sunday. Unfortunately, on his second push lap, he made a costly error on Saint Devote, which caused his car to crash into the barriers.
Perez’s RB19 suffered damage to its left rear suspension, before spinning and halting in the middle of the track. Thankfully, the 33-year-old managed to walk out unscathed, but both he and Red Bull will be tremendously disappointed.
I think I know what happened to checo pic.twitter.com/ceIGOKH3z1
— Maude⁴⁷ (@schumihoney) May 27, 2023
This was when fans began circulating pictures of Nico Rosberg on Twitter, and jokingly blamed Lewis Hamilton’s former teammate for causing the Mexican driver’s crash, just with his presence. Maude, posted a picture of Rosberg on their account, and wrote, “I think I know what happened to Checo.”
Max Verstappen takes pole in Monaco
Ahead of the qualifying session on Saturday, many people felt that Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes had a strong chance of outperforming Red Bull this weekend. However, the Milton-Keynes-based outfit’s ability to adjust to the track was underestimated, as Verstappen found just the right amount of performance to put his car on pole position.
P1.
P20.You couldn’t have more contrasting emotions. pic.twitter.com/l80vFuMu1v
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 27, 2023
The Dutchman will start P1, ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in P2. Hometown hero Charles Leclerc went through a difficult session, as he finished third. Regardless, the Monegasque driver will be hoping that he holds on to the podium place at least, which will be his first in the Principality.
Perez, meanwhile, is the most disappointed driver in the paddock at the moment. With overtaking opportunities limited in Monaco, even getting into the points from P20 will require a herculean effort from Perez on Sunday.
