Max Verstappen dampens Red Bull expectations with clear warning

Max Verstappen has cautioned against expecting Red Bull to be competitive "every single weekend" after his dominant victory at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman crushed the opposition at Monza, crossing the line 19 seconds clear of Lando Norris in second place, at the end of an uncharacteristically underwhelming event for McLaren.

However, Verstappen believes Red Bull's newfound form is "still a bit track dependent", despite the upgraded floor on the RB21 - the main catalyst for victory - being understood to be more of a breakthrough across the board than first anticipated.

The Milton Keynes squad almost made steps with its set-up. Changes to Verstappen's car between FP3 and qualifying unlocked previously unattainable balance.

That directly contributed to his pace at the Temple of Speed, where he set the quickest-ever lap in F1, when measured on average speed.

Nonetheless, the four-time F1 drivers' champion does not expect to be in the mix consistently for the remaining eight rounds of the campaign.

"I think it's still a bit track dependent," Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365. "[At Monza], you drive low downforce.

"It always seems like our car is a little bit more competitive when it’s low-to-medium downforce.

"So it's not like suddenly now we are back. It's not like we can fight, I think, every single weekend."

Although the 27-year-old did celebrate the six-time constructors' champion's improved understanding of how to better extract performance from the RB21, something that has plagued the team all season long.

"But the positive is that we seem to understand a little bit more what we need to do with the car to be more competitive," he added.

"So I hope that carries on into the coming rounds as well, and some tracks will be a bit better than others."