Max Verstappen finished on the podium in Monza after starting from fifth on the grid, saying he struggled with deployment in his Red Bull.
Max Verstappen has identified deployment and top speed as struggles in Monza. He lost out to Mercedes, admitting he “tried to hang in there” but ultimately couldn’t match their pace.
The Dutchman briefly led the Italian Grand Prix early on after passing Hamilton, Leclerc, Gasly, and Russell – the latter quickly getting ahead of Verstappen again.
Eventual race winner Kimi Antonelli started at the back of the grid, but didn’t take long to catch up to the Russell-Verstappen battle before both Mercedes pulled away from the Red Bull.
Max Verstappen lacking speed?
Verstappen then pitted under a virtual safety car brought out by Lance Stroll’s mid-race retirement, putting on new hard tyres and working his way up to third by the end of the race.
The four-time world champion revealed why he failed to make up as much ground as Antonelli after they both stopped, confirming a speed issue with his RB22.
“There were some good battles out there,” Verstappen said after the race.
“I had to send it many times around the outside because we were just struggling a lot with deployment from turns two to four compared to our competitors.
“In general top speed wasn’t our friend today so just tried to hang in there but they were just a bit too fast.
“That’s why I was trying to be in that overtake mode but at one point I lost that and tried to just do my own race. Happy with P3 and to be on the podium here.”
Verstappen took the chequered flag over 10 seconds behind Russell in P2, however still 5 seconds clear of Norris in P4 who came out on top of a late battle with teammate Piastri.
Although not a victory, it marks the closest Verstappen has been to the Silver Arrows in 2026.
Discussion about this post