Max Verstappen said there could have been a “big crash” in both FP1 and FP2 as F1 took to the narrow streets of Monaco.

Although the Dutchman kept it out of the wall, he had a number of close encounters during a Friday of red flags in Monte Carlo.

Max Verstappen reflects on ‘dangerous’ practice sessions in Monaco

Monaco always poses a difficult task for the Formula 1 drivers but this year seemed a particularly hard challenge as both rookies and championship leaders made contact with the walls.

In FP1, Charles Leclerc crashed into the back of Lance Stroll after the Canadian pulled out in front of him while FP2 saw both Isack Hadjar and Oscar Piastri make contact,

Even Verstappen had an incident, locking up at Turn 5 but using an escape road to spare his blushes.

After FP2, where he was 10th fastest, Verstappen warned that “dangerous” driving meant there could have been a “big crash.”

“Monaco has always been tricky with traffic, but I think two times today it was quite dangerous,” he said.

“I would say in FP1 and then one time in FP2, which is not ideal.

“I know it’s practice, but it could have been quite a big crash if you don’t back out of it quickly, if you don’t read the situation. But luckily, everything went well.”

On track, Verstappen and team-mate Yuk Tsunoda could only manage P10 and P11 while Ferrari appeared to have found some pace, finishing P1 and P3 in the FP2 standings.

Verstappen suggested his car was still not driving as he would like but he did not expect the RB21 to be the quickest this weekend.

More reaction from the first day in Monaco

Tech analysis: How Red Bull have prepared RB21 for unique Monaco GP challenge

Monaco GP: Leclerc tops FP2 as Piastri survives scare

“FP1 was quite positive, but then we made some changes for FP2 to see how far, basically, we could push the balance and I think we just overdid it a little bit,” Verstappen recalled.

“I couldn’t really attack the corners anymore how I would like and then you’re just shedding a lot of pace, and that lap time is basically not coming out of it.

“I don’t expect this to be the quickest but we want to be a lot closer than what we were in FP2.

“But I’m also quite confident that we can be a lot closer. Ferrari again, looks very, very fast. The McLarens were quite close behind but if you see over the whole season, the pace, I think Ferrari again took a big step forward.”

Read next: Lewis Hamilton involved in ‘unacceptable’ Monaco GP FP1 incident