Max Verstappen puts rivals on high alert after ending winless run

Max Verstappen has put his rivals on high alert after ending a eight-race winless streak by revealing that Red Bull did make a "step forward" with the RB21 in Monza, something he described as a "big positive". 

Red Bull introduced a new floor at the Italian Grand Prix which appeared to work better than expected, giving Verstappen the ability to claim pole position and convert it into victory. 

The four-time world champion not only set the quickest lap in F1 history based on average speed in qualifying, he also completed the quickest race in F1 history. 

He crossed the finish line a staggering 19.2 seconds ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris, although remains 94 points adrift of Oscar Piastri in the F1 drivers' title. 

Following Monza, Red Bull are now very hopeful about its chances for further race wins in the remaining eight races, with Verstappen confirming the car was "better than expected".

"I would say probably a bit better than expected, but once I got back in the lead, I just tried to focus on my own pace and it kept on going well," said Verstappen. 

"I would say only the last maybe six to eight laps of that stint I started to struggle a little bit on the Medium. But up until that point, yeah, it was nice for once. The car was doing a little bit more what I liked. 

"It just seems like this weekend has been another step forward with the behaviour of the car and that also then shows in the race, I think. So that was a big positive for us. Then, of course, we did a bit more of a normal strategy, you know, Medium–Hard. 

"Of course, McLaren stayed out to try and gamble for the Safety Car, and I think that's why the gap is a little bit bigger than it should have been. But still for us, an incredible weekend."