Verstappen praises his RB21 which "felt a lot more stable"
Despite sounding a pessimistic voice after Friday’s practice sessions, reigning champion Max Verstappen displayed a brilliant tyre management to bank his second victory of the season.
Reigning champion Max Verstappen looked to struggle for pace on Friday, complaining about the race pace of his RB21. However, he displayed a stellar performance in qualifying to secure second spot on the grid.
The Dutchman then endured a slow getaway at the start, but made an eye-catching move into Turn 1, braking late and braving it around the outside of Oscar Piastri to take the lead on the first lap.
McLaren had been expected to have dominant race pace and tyre management on the hot surface of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari. However, Verstappen managed his medium tyres during his opening stint, and he received some good fortunes with VSC which enabled him to bank a cheap pit stop.
When the Safety Car came out, he lost his enormous advantage, but he did not lose his focus and drove into the distance for his second Grand Prix win of the year.
Reflecting on his 65 F1 triumph, Verstappen stated: “To have the win here is fantastic. The start wasn’t the best but I can say turn two was good! Once we got into the lead I think we showed what we could do with the pace of the car and I could push quite nicely.
“The race was a lot more promising than what I expected, which was really good for us, and the car felt a lot more stable. We have clearly made a step forward with the set up of the car. I looked after my tyres quite well and it felt really good on both of the compounds.
“It took a while for the car to be cleared during the VSC but we were able to pit which was good. It was a bit of a reset and I could also pull away as Oscar had used tyres. I am really happy with this result and from the Team’s side we did everything well: good strategy, good pit stops and really calm communication everywhere, which is what you need in a successful race.”
Red Bull introduced a raft of upgrades for the first European round of the season which seemingly made the RB21 more competitive.
“It was a big weekend for us and good to see that the upgrades worked on the car. Big thank you to everyone here and at the factory for this, this makes our 400th race even more special.
“Hopefully we can extract what we learnt here today a bit more often. It has been a really positive weekend for us and we will keep on going, keep trying to be better and of course enjoy it a bit tonight!"
