08/09/2025 11:05
Max Verstappen has put his rivals on high alert after ending a
eight-race winless streak by revealing that Red Bull did make a
"step forward" with the RB21 in Monza, something he described as a
"big positive". Red Bull introduced a new floor at the Italian
Grand Prix which appeared to work better than expected, giving
Verstappen the ability to claim pole position and convert it into
victory. The four-time world champion not only set the quickest
lap in F1 history based on average speed in qualifying, he also
completed the quickest race in F1 history. He crossed the finish
line a staggering 19.2 seconds ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris,
although remains 94 points adrift of Oscar Piastri in the F1
drivers' title. Following Monza, Red Bull are now very hopeful
about its chances for further race wins in the remaining eight
races, with Verstappen confirming the car was "better than
expected". "I would say probably a bit better than expected, but
once I got back in the lead, I just tried to focus on my own pace
and it kept on going well," said Verstappen. "I would say only the
last maybe six to eight laps of that stint I started to struggle a
little bit on the Medium. But up until that point, yeah, it was
nice for once. The car was doing a little bit more what I liked.
"It just seems like this weekend has been another step forward with
the behaviour of the car and that also then shows in the race, I
think. So that was a big positive for us. Then, of course, we did a
bit more of a normal strategy, you know, Medium–Hard. "Of course,
McLaren stayed out to try and gamble for the Safety Car, and I
think that's why the gap is a little bit bigger than it should have
been. But still for us, an incredible weekend."
