Max Verstappen finished the Italian Grand Prix of Formula 1 in third place, but left Monza again bothered by the lack of speed of the Red Bull Racing car on the straights. After the race, the Dutchman mocked the situation by commenting on the performance of the power unit.
In an interview with Viaplay, Verstappen acknowledged that the podium was a good result for the team, although he highlighted the difficulty faced on the straights: “Satisfied with the result, it’s all good for us. But, of course, it’s a shame that we are losing so much on the straights. This is not new, we have known this for some time,” he said.
Next, the Dutch driver adopted a sarcastic tone when mentioning the supposed advantage of the Red Bull engine: “Apparently, we have the fastest engine,” said Verstappen, in an ironic reference to the difficulties he faced keeping up with cars equipped with more efficient power units on the straights.
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The Dutchman also explained that the car’s behavior at the rear continued to be a problem throughout the weekend: “The car didn’t seem very good, but we maximized what we had,” he added, especially highlighting the difficulties in low-speed corners.
Verstappen also lost time during the race after going off the track at Turn 2, when the asphalt came loose and caused an unexpected reaction from the car. According to him, the situation also affected Kimi Antonelli, and McLaren managed to take advantage of the moment to go into attack mode, making it difficult for the Red Bull driver to recover: “After that, McLaren was in that overtaking mode and we are simply slow on the straight,” Verstappen concluded.
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