Verstappen wins thanks to Red Bull upgrades and driving that “makes everyone else look foolish”
Max Verstappen secured victory at the Italian Grand Prix, not entirely unexpectedly, but with a performance margin in the race that exceeded expectations. The combination of factors behind such a dominant display comes from both car and driver. On one hand, this season the Red Bull has clearly excelled on low to medium-low downforce tracks, offering better balance and a particular level of efficiency. Observing qualifying data, it appears that especially with the latest floor upgrades, the RB21 achieves a kind of “positive imbalance” at high speeds and low downforce levels, a scenario where downforce increases without a significant drag penalty. Added to this is the new Power Unit for this race, which the Milton Keynes engineers could push slightly harder than usual, taking advantage of the important occasion.
On the other hand, there’s Max Verstappen, a driver always ready to seize the opportunity and manage the car at its best, likely the only one able to handle a low-downforce setup, taking on the responsibility of keeping the car in its ideal window throughout the race. The final gap to the McLarens seems overly generous relative to reality, as the Woking drivers stayed on track hoping for a potential Safety Car to try and win the race, which didn’t happen, almost doubling the actual gap. Toto Wolff’s words describing Verstappen as having “made everyone else look foolish” perfectly encapsulate what we consider the first, general “embarrassment” of the Italian weekend.
McLaren’s performance and unexpected positives
The real “news” may be that McLaren wasn’t the fastest car this weekend, but there’s no need for negative surprise. Andrea Stella joking after the race said that Monza is a tough track for the MCL39 because there are so few corners, and we can’t disagree. It was clear that there’s a limit to how far the McLaren team can go with a low-downforce setup without entering areas of poor overall efficiency or aerodynamic imbalance, which is why Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were the two drivers with the highest absolute car load. What’s striking, and positive for them but negative for the competition, is the time gained by McLaren drivers in the second and third sectors of the track, from the first Lesmo to the Parabolica, which significantly exceeded the time lost on the straights due to lack of top speed.
Pre-race expectations suggested McLaren’s advantage might come from race pace, exploiting lower tire wear, but the Pirelli compounds proved excessively hard, with almost zero degradation. The race could have been comfortably completed by nearly everyone on the medium tire, without even needing the hard.
Monza’s track characteristics and Ferrari struggles
Monza has become a track with almost flat curbs, which don’t challenge the suspension system or ground clearance, featuring only six corners followed by endless straights. In an era where engine power differences are minimal and tire management had almost no influence due to negligible degradation, only one car—not even a whole team—managed to stay ahead of Norris and Piastri. If that isn’t embarrassing for the others, it’s hard to say what is. Even McLaren faced a minor embarrassment with Norris’s long pit stop, which later prompted a team order swapping positions to restore the English driver to second place. Fans and insiders, including the drivers themselves, are divided on whether the move was correct or “too fair and boring” in a world that should be about “ruthless racing.” The writer disagrees, believing that since the pit stop error was entirely the team’s fault, restoring the positions was a way to protect team members and mechanics while giving Norris what he deserved. Once released back into free race, Lando confirmed he had slightly better pace than Piastri, about one and a half tenths, so despite opinions on team orders, the final positions reflected on-track values.
Oscar Piastri’s early battle with Charles Leclerc also deserves mention. The Australian showed great courage attacking Ferrari’s car number 16 on the outside of the first Lesmo. Despite the significant aerodynamic disadvantage, Piastri risked a high-stakes move where the line between a brilliant overtake and a contact resulting in zero points was extremely thin.
Ferrari leaves its home Grand Prix poorly
Maranello emerged poorly from its home Grand Prix. Frederic Vasseur’s post-race comments calling it “one of the best weekends relative to McLaren” were at best questionable, if not embarrassing. Meanwhile, Andrea Stella pointed out that Monza is probably the worst track for the MCL39, and yet Leclerc could only watch from afar as Norris and Piastri pulled away, not to mention Verstappen. The Monegasque fought bravely in the opening laps, but this overheated the rear tires, requiring nearly ten laps of lift-and-coast to stabilize the car. This highlights both the sensitivity of these cars and tires, which force a single-pace driving style, and Ferrari’s low-downforce vulnerability, which caused sliding even in minor battles.
SF-25 pace at the end of stints was better, almost McLaren-level, confirming the car’s generally gentle tire usage. But in a race with minimal degradation, this advantage was unusable. Only pure performance mattered: aerodynamic efficiency on straights, engine traction and acceleration, braking stability, and appropriate downforce in corners—and none were sufficient. This solidifies doubts about the SF-25 project, even with the updated rear suspension. It seems the delay in rear updates also impacted overall aerodynamic development, including floor improvements for more efficient downforce. Red Bull implemented such upgrades as the final development step, with visible results. Ferrari also faces embarrassment in driver management with Lewis Hamilton. Saturday qualifying involved a controversial slipstream scenario, and in the race, Hamilton had two strategic options to challenge George Russell—undercut or overcut using soft tires late—but neither was pursued. The reason appears to be the “equal opportunity for both drivers” philosophy. Courageous driver management is crucial, and these hesitations only limit Ferrari’s chances.
Mercedes even worse than Ferrari. Albon, Bortoleto, and Hadjar shine
The only top team performing worse than Ferrari was Mercedes. Toto Wolff himself appeared embarrassed after the race, though the performance was not entirely surprising: the Brackley team has never found the right setup for this generation of cars, and the lack of fundamentals was evident at Monza. The W16 continues to underperform, even with the updated rear suspension causing more harm than benefit. George Russell nearly suffered a tire collapse on the medium compound, highlighting the team’s struggles managing tires at higher temperatures. Overall, Riccardo Antonelli had a solid weekend, despite a poor start and a penalty, finishing in the points, which should boost his confidence. Ahead of him, Alex Albon was outstanding, flawless in strategy and relentless in race pace, followed by Bortoleto and Hadjar, both delivering strong performances and Hadjar mounting a notable comeback from the pits.
In summary
A few bright spots emerged among the embarrassments. The next race in Baku could offer, hopefully, some more surprises given the unique nature of the track.
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