Max Verstappen wins and convinces in Monza. The Dutchman took pole (among other things without slipstream) and won the Italian GP thanks to a consistent performance. The 20-second gap on McLaren is not true. The Woking team forced a lot on strategy and subsequently also had to resolve internal problems after making a mistake in Norris' pit stop.
However, once this situation was overcome, Verstappen dominated in Italy. His Red Bull RB21, thanks also to the updates made to the Brianza track (including some new features in the lower part, as well as improvements to the front wing to better adapt to the layout), was the fastest car on the track.
Much of the credit definitely goes to the Dutchman. Its qualities are absolutely not discussed, but Red Bull RB21 is not a poor car, as someone describe. Formula 1 is a sport in which the vehicle matters much more than the qualities of the driver. No one is able to turn a classic road car into a racing car just because of their driving skills, either Verstappen. Max puts that extra something into it, but it certainly doesn't work miracles. The gap with Tsunoda is too high to be true.
Red Bull had the potential to easily become the second force in 2025
The potential of the RB21 does not lie in Yuki's performance nor in that resulting from Verstappen's car. But what is certain is that this Red Bull is absolutely not poor. Helmut Marko, the team's consultant, also appeared strangely positive after the race. The updates worked and the car grew in competitive terms. McLaren is a whole different story, the Austrian said, but the technicians managed to put a high-level car in Max's hands (they also met his demands by removing part of the rear wing during FP3 to give him more speed).
To say that the RB21 is a poor car, based on Tsunoda's results and some GPs where Verstappen didn't shine, gives us a distorted image of this Formula 1. Max achieved three victories, four second places and also first position in the Belgian GP Sprint. Such results do not come by chance. Considering that Red Bull is fourth in the standings, 41 points behind Ferrari, essentially based on the results collected by the Dutch champion, if only it had managed to put Tsunoda in the position of being a little’ more competitive, or had had a driver capable of arrive, at least, constantly in the points, now in all likelihood it would be the second force in the world championship, almost alone.
Verstappen doesn't need to join the Racing Bulls to win GPs. He already has a top-level car in his hand, certainly better than the VCARB 02.
Read in the original language (Italian): Verstappen e il 'bidone' Red Bull: l'immagine falsata della Formula 1
Photo: Red Bull
All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Italian GP 2025
