Red Bull rolled into the Italian Grand Prix with quiet confidence, convinced that the hard lessons from its disastrous 2024 outing at Monza had laid the foundation for redemption. Few believed the reigning champions could take the fight to McLaren on a circuit where the papaya cars had looked untouchable in recent rounds. Yet, by Sunday evening, Max Verstappen had not only destroyed McLaren’s hopes but also delivered one of the most crushing victories of the season — thanks to a bold call he personally pushed for on Saturday.
Verstappen’s Bold Gamble: The Radical Wing
The turnaround began in FP3. Red Bull had already brought a bespoke Monza rear wing package, but Verstappen demanded more. For the final practice runs, the team bolted on an even more extreme version of the low-downforce wing — slicing away a chunk of the upper flap to squeeze out maximum straight-line speed.
The stopwatch confirmed the gamble’s potential. Verstappen’s previous best of 1m19.688s was beaten twice in quick succession, clocking 1m19.513s and finally 1m19.498s. The trade-off? A twitchier, more unstable rear end through Monza’s high-speed corners. But Verstappen didn’t blink.
Engineers’ Doubts, Verstappen’s Defiance
Inside the post-FP3 debrief, debate raged. Red Bull’s engineers warned that the knife-edge rear wing might spell disaster over a race stint, spiking tyre temperatures and chewing up the rubber. The safe bet was to revert to the less extreme Friday spec.
Verstappen wasn’t having it. He stood firm, demanding the team stick to the aggressive wing and instead adjust the front wing to rebalance the car. Team principal Laurent Mekies later admitted to The Race:
“While it looked a lot more difficult to get the balance right with that lower level, Max has been very strong and good at pushing us to keep it on the car. [He wanted us] to find other solutions to give him the balance back, and the guys did an amazing job in managing that.”
The unorthodox approach paid off immediately. Verstappen blitzed Q3, snatching pole from Lando Norris with an inch-perfect lap that smashed Lewis Hamilton’s 2020 Monza record. Mekies didn’t hide his admiration:
“He pushed us into a rather unusual set-up direction and it worked.”
Race Pace Fears Turned to Domination
Red Bull expected Sunday to be damage limitation. Monza has always exposed the RB’s weaknesses, and the engineers feared the low-downforce gamble would implode once tyre degradation kicked in.
Mekies revealed:
“It was good to be less than one tenth of a second ahead of McLaren in qualifying, but all our numbers were telling us that normally in the race, they have a bigger advantage than what they have in qualifying. So we were expecting a defence race… But ultimately we had a pace advantage.”
Verstappen, armed with a fresh Honda power unit and a more stable balance, proved unstoppable. He tore through the laps with relentless speed, leaving McLaren trailing in his wake and storming to victory with a crushing 20-second gap.
Verstappen: “Finally, balance in the car”
Reflecting on his masterclass at Monza, the reigning champion admitted the new philosophy and wing package changed everything.
“Before it felt like you were a passenger in the car. We had some races where it was just not balanced. And now, finally, there was more balance in the car and then the tyres also behave a little bit more normal.”
From struggling with a “monster” at Monza last year to unleashing the fastest qualifying lap in F1 history and a dominant race win, Verstappen’s bold call has shaken up the championship narrative. The question now: has Red Bull found a setup philosophy that can carry him all the way to another title — and crush McLaren’s hopes in the process?
