Former Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg stated that Max Verstappen‘s victory at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza was not due to having the fastest car on the grid but rather because of an intelligent car setup. Verstappen’s approach to adjusting his car’s configuration helped him secure a dominant performance despite Red Bull Racing’s previous struggles this season.
This season, Max Verstappen’s RB21 struggled to maintain the competitiveness seen in prior years. After starting with two early wins, Verstappen often found himself closer to the midfield pack, contributing to Red Bull Racing falling to fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. Nevertheless, Verstappen’s performance at Monza stood out. He claimed pole position, setting a new record for the fastest lap in Formula 1 history, and went on to win the race by a significant margin, signaling a rare moment of clear superiority over the McLaren team that had been dominating recently.
Despite the visible speed on the track, Rosberg emphasized that Verstappen did not have the outright fastest car during the weekend.
“Yeah, and he his [Verstappen’s] car wasn’t the best car this weekend. I’m pretty sure of that,” —Nico Rosberg, 2016 F1 World Champion
Rosberg explained that Verstappen’s success was largely due to his work with the Red Bull team on refining the car setup in ways that deviated from standard simulations and data analysis. Verstappen made key decisions, such as reducing the downforce by trimming the rear wing to its smallest possible size, which allowed the car to reach maximum top speed on Monza’s long straights.
“What what I learned about Max Verstappen is that he’s also now becoming or has been, I don’t know, so smart on that he actually does set such fundamental setup decision,” —Nico Rosberg, 2016 F1 World Champion
“That’s also a new facet which I hadn’t seen so often yet. And that’s impressive because that’s probably one of the key ingredients to the win this weekend was his determination to push through his view on the setup which was we need to take more wing off and you know rear wing the simulation tells you where the optimum wing is.” —Nico Rosberg, 2016 F1 World Champion
This race marked Verstappen’s first win since Imola, giving the field a fresh dynamic for the championship battle. While this victory alone did not reestablish him as a strong title contender, it did inject renewed competition between Red Bull and the McLaren drivers.
Factors Behind Verstappen’s Triumph Over McLaren’s Dominance
Throughout the season, McLaren’s MCL39 showcased several advantages, especially in tire management. The car’s efficiency in preventing tire overheating and its strong cornering speed made McLaren a formidable opponent and the leading team in many races.
However, Monza posed unique challenges that neutralized some of McLaren’s strengths. As the circuit demands the lowest level of downforce among all Grand Prix tracks, the focus shifts heavily to top speed rather than cornering stability. Additionally, tire wear was minimal across all teams during the weekend, removing one of McLaren’s key performance edges.
Under these conditions, Verstappen’s Red Bull setup strategy paid off. The team’s bold choice to significantly reduce rear wing drag maximized straight-line speed, making overtaking difficult even with DRS aid. Moreover, an intense opening lap fight between Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc kept competitor Oscar Piastri behind, while Lando Norris emerged as McLaren’s only realistic challenger in the race for victory.
Despite finishing third, Oscar Piastri retained the lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings. Still, Norris’s performance allowed him to close the points gap, intensifying the title fight as the season progresses.
