It could have been a Formula 1 round for the (closer) eternity. Because the polar round of Max Verstappen during qualifying in Monza was the fastest in Formula 1 history: At an average of 264.682 km/h, the four-time world champion raced through the royal park and thus set a record that should remain with the new cars from 2026.
In addition, the Dutch crashed the Ferrari party in Monza and also beat the McLaren so far as dominant. “That was good,” he laughs. “It is always difficult here: little downforce, you can easily make mistakes when braking or in the curve entrances because you have to committee – and it is not easy with little output.”
“But I think the last round was pretty decent. It is great for us. It was not always a good route for us – last year it was pretty disaster. This year I am much better and I am very happy to be first,” said Verstappen.
Training restored
Last year Red Bull hadn’t experienced a good weekend in Monza: Verstappen had only seventh in qualifying with seven tenths behind and had only finished sixth in the race. But this year the complete turnaround: the Dutch starts on Pole and also believes in the racing victory on Sunday.
“If I had been asked before the weekend, I would not have thought that Red Bull would be so strong here,” Ferrari-Pilot Charles Leclerc had to admit with a view to 2024. “But after Friday we understood that compared to last year, when they had problems, they took a massive step.”
Where does the upswing come from? Helmut Marko knows the answer: “This new approach that the training was structured differently has made itself a great noticeable,” the Austrian told ServusTV and describes Friday as the best that he can remember for a long time.
Verstappen himself also confirms this, even if it was almost unusual for him: “That was very, very long ago. Even that we have only changed little things over the weekend,” he says.
Learned a lot about the car in Zandvoort
According to Verstappen, this improved set-up direction was more important for Saturday success than the new underbody update, which was introduced in Monza. “We learned a lot about this car in Zandvoort, and I hope that we can use this knowledge for the rest of the season,” said the Dutch.
“Of course I have to say that our car generally works better on routes with medium and low downforce because we always have a lot understeer in the middle of the curve. On this route you can check that a little better.”
In addition to the teachings from Zandvoort, there was another decisive factor in Monza: Verstappen himself prevailed with his set-up parameters before qualifying. This is exactly what his radio message referred to the pole: “It worked! Stays relaxed, everything is good.”
“Before qualifying, some in the team wanted to try something else during the set-up, but I said: ‘No, we shouldn’t do that,” he explains. “When I went back to my room, I still saw some faces, the doubts. But I just felt: ‘That’s what we need.’ Fortunately it worked. “
Precise interaction with lambiase
When asked that the final decision came more from himself than from the team, Verstappen in the Dutch media round explains: “In the end, of course, these decisions are made together with GP (racing engineer Gianpiero Lambiase; editor’s note) and a few other people around me.”
“I also understand why certain questions came up and why some would prefer to go in a different direction. But in the end I am the one who sits in the car and feels. I had the feeling that we only had to make small changes and that it would be better.”
It worked – even if Verstappen in Q3 still had to deliver a very strong round. “I didn’t have a big mistake in both of my Q3 rounds. It is always difficult to make here. To brake from such high speeds into the two harassment is not easy to hit the apex. But today everything was fine.”
For Marko, the Verstappen factor at the Pole was once again decisive. The Austrian is always impressed by the meticulousness and the driving talent of his protégé, which in the end made the decisive factor.
“It is the very precise instruction of him that he gives his racing engineer,” he is amazed, talking about hundreds and thousands. “It’s about tire pressure, temperature – and he then implements it without errors,” he says at Sky. “This is an interaction with the engineer, but ultimately it can only implement a driving genius like him.”
A record that stays?
In the end, a new route record of 1: 18,792 minutes came out, which is synonymous in Monza with a new speed record. “To be honest, I didn’t think about it when crossing the line, but it’s nice. It didn’t feel bad,” laughs.
“The cars are fun. The new asphalt also helps here, the border stones are a little more open,” he says, saying that the cars play their advantages in the high-speed passages. “In the slow curves, we lose compared to the previous generation.”
“I think the 2020 Mercedes would still be faster if you were driving it here,” he admits.
Can McLaren beat on Sunday?
But the important question for the world champion is now: Which car is faster on Sunday than the RB21? In his view, it is best not to. “I think we are making progress by car, but we also found a better direction in terms of set-up,” he says that he can hold his place in the race.
But that was not always like this: “We still have to understand why it sometimes doesn’t work in the race. I had a good feeling in qualifying in Zandvoort, but the race was very bad. So I don’t think it will be fantastic tomorrow in the fight against McLaren.”
“The season shows: Yes, sometimes you are at the front of qualifying, but in the race it is very difficult to stay in front – except on routes, where overtaking is difficult. You can rac well here. So I expect a hard fight. But we take steps forward, and that is exactly what we want to learn: hopefully will help for the next year,” said Verstappen.
He has at least one trump card: Red Bull put down the rear wing again on Saturday to have a little more top speed. “This happened with regard to the race,” says Marko at Sky. “
“We wanted that because we weren’t very good in the top speed.” Qualifying was important, “but racing speed is even more important,” he says. “But that was exactly the right approach and the right change that was carried out there.” And with the pole you can’t say that it has had a negative impact. This can only be an advantage for the race.