Max Verstappen has had a very stop-start 2018 Formula One season heading into the Monaco Grand Prix.6th place in Australia was followed by a retirement in Bahrain. 5th place in China was then followed by a crash in Baku with teammate Daniel Ricciardo that forced both to retire.But Verstappen bounced back from that, too, taking his first podium of the season with a 3rd place finish in Barcelona.The Dutchman was tipped as an outside to challenge reigning champion Lewis Hamilton this season - by Hamilton, anyway - and is almost unanimously hailed as a future champion.It's not looking likely that this will be his year, but at just 20-years-old still, Verstappen looks practically nailed on to fulfil at least a fraction of the potential he has shown to become champion one day.And with F1's showpiece event, the Monaco GP, this weekend, Verstappen has spoken out about the opportunity to finally grab some much-needed momentum this season.Although things haven't quite gone to plan.Verstappen started practice well on Saturday, holding onto the fastest lap in the session, but in trying to beat it, the Red Bull driver crashed his car.To make matters worse, some F1 fans noticed that Verstappen virtually replicated his crash in Monaco from 2016.You can check out the similarities below:

How do things get worse from there?

Well, first, teammate Ricciardo would eventually beat his best lap time by 0.001s. That's got to hurt, but nowhere near as much as damaging your car so badly that you can't compete in qualifying.

Yes, Verstappen's car required a new gearbox but couldn't fit it in time to pass regulations. He'll now be forced to start the Monaco GP from the back of the grid.

Not that he's entirely without a hope of points on Sunday - Fernando Alonso faced a similar situation back in 2010 but managed to secure a sixth-place finish.

And it'll be Alonso himself who moves above Verstappen in the standings if he doesn't manage to pull that off - it's been a stop-start season, and it's set to continue that way.