Max Verstappen’s win at the Italian Grand Prix had a familiar look to it, as he crossed the line almost 20 seconds clear of the field.
Norris led early on but Verstappen reclaimed top spot just four laps in and then pulled away for his first victory since Imola back in May.
READ MORE: Max Verstappen labelled an ‘idiot’ over decision that nearly cost his Italian GP win
It was a clinical drive from Verstappen, who took full advantage of Red Bull’s decision to run a lower-downforce rear wing on the RB21.
That setup choice gave him an edge around Monza, where he also set a new lap record and completed the race in just over 73 minutes — the fastest race time ever recorded in F1.
Red Bull’s new floor upgrade addresses Max Verstappen’s balance issues with the RB21
Another factor in Verstappen’s strong weekend was Red Bull bringing a new floor to Monza. This looks set to be their last major development before shifting full focus to the 2026 regulations.
The upgrade aimed to improve pressure distribution across the underbody of the RB21, hoping to unlock more performance from increased load.
Ian Parkes, speaking on a RacingNews365 podcast, pointed out why this isn’t likely to be a one-off result for Verstappen, especially with several similar tracks still on the calendar.
“You should never write Max Verstappen and Red Bull off, because we had done and then all of a sudden they introduced these new floor new elements and it just completely changed the aero grip and balance,” Parkes said.
“Pierre Wache, the technical director, had turned around and said that is what had been lacking on that car this season. They’ve now rediscovered that, to a certain extent, and that really played its part as we all saw in Max’s incredible pole position and race-winning times, which were all-time Formula 1 records.
The good news, as we discussed over the update at various stages following practice on Friday, was that this is not going to be a one-off.
“This floor has now proven itself to actually be more performant than Red Bull was expecting. For all intents and purposes, it should be good around Baku, which is a predominantly low-downforce circuit.”
How Zandvoort learnings helped Red Bull fast-track their Monza upgrade
Red Bull identified a significant balance issue with the RB21 during the previous weekend’s Grand Prix in Zandvoort, where Verstappen finished second. The team left that event determined to address those problems before heading to Monza.
The floor upgrade appears to have resolved those issues. Verstappen had been dealing with oversteer on corner entry and understeer on exit, but now that the balance is sorted, he’s able to get much more out of the car.
This may have helped solidify Pierre Wache’s position within the team. The French engineer had been facing mounting pressure due to Red Bull’s form earlier in the season.
Verstappen has been openly critical of Wache in the past and didn’t go out of his way to credit him for the recent changes when speaking to media after the race.
Despite their progress, Red Bull remains fourth in the constructors’ standings, trailing Mercedes by 21 points. Notably, Verstappen has contributed 230 of their total points this season, while Yuki Tsunoda failed to score for a tenth time.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
