Max Verstappen hails Red Bull response after pointed criticism

Max Verstappen has commended Red Bull for the recovery the Milton Keynes-based outfit engineered with his RB22 across the Italian Grand Prix weekend, describing it as a "strong turnaround" after a bruising period for the team.

The four-time F1 drivers' champion finished on the podium at Monza, a result that seemed improbable just 48 hours earlier when he cut a frustrated figure during Friday practice, complaining of balance issues and a lack of pace after missing FP1 entirely due to Ayumu Iwasa's mandatory rookie running and ending FP2 only ninth fastest.

The round at the Temple of Speed came off the back of Red Bull's recent nadir at Zandvoort, where the Dutchman qualified a lowly seventh and crashed out on the opening lap in damp conditions.

He was blunt in his assessment there, saying the RB22 was "not really to my liking" and that Red Bull lacked the pace to fight at the front.

His criticism sharpened further in the build-up to Monza, where he warned the weekend would be "really painful" given the energy deployment limitations of his car — amid the controversial new power unit regulations — at such a power-hungry circuit. The pessimism appeared justified on Friday.

Yet Red Bull found something overnight, as the team so often does, given it has become somewhat of a calling card. Verstappen qualified sixth, benefited from Oscar Piastri's grid penalty, and went on to secure a podium finish in third behind the dominant Mercedes pair of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Masked problems

Even so, Verstappen made clear the result masked significant struggles during the race itself, particularly against Mercedes-powered machinery on Monza's long straights.

"I had my issues in qualifying that, of course, were still there," Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365. "But also, I think it was quite clear during the race that we just can't keep up with the deployment of the Mercedes-powered cars, and that is, of course, on a track like Monza, very tough.

"Of course, with the overtake mode it looked quite promising, but as soon as I got in the lead, it was very hard to defend, and that has been a bit my problem throughout the whole race.

"Even when we had the VSC, we boxed, had better tyres, I'm overtaking cars, but as soon as they, you know, can hang in that overtake mode, it's just too powerful for us to actually really defend that, even on better tyres. So, it took me a while even to clear the McLarens."

Despite those frustrations, Verstappen acknowledged the broader significance of the result given how far Red Bull had fallen at Zandvoort, where his first-lap retirement and the team's lack of competitiveness prompted pointed criticism of the car's direction.

"But for us to be on the podium, I think after a very difficult weekend in Zandvoort, where the car was not really to my liking, yeah, we managed to have a strong turnaround from Friday to Saturday, and the car was definitely in a better window," he added.

"But we still have a few bits and areas that we know need to be better, plus the obvious deployment on the straights."