Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday
Max Verstappen was thrilled with the pace of his Red Bull
Verstappen held off Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to clinch his third win of the season
Max Verstappen was thrilled with the pace of his Red Bull as he stormed to a victory he described as "unbelievable" at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen started and finished at the front of the grid as he comfortably held off the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to clinch his third win of the season.
The reigning world champion finished 19 seconds clear of second-placed Norris, who swapped positions with his team-mate late on after a slow pitstop.
Indeed, Verstappen's margin of victory was the biggest difference between first and second in 2025, and the largest since Sao Paulo 2024, when he won by 19.477 seconds to Esteban Ocon.
It also marked Red Bull and Verstappen's first triumph since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May, with Laurent Mekies also claiming his maiden victory since being appointed team principal.
The result saw Verstappen clinch back-to-back podiums for the first time this season, and the Dutchman was impressed by the team's improved performance in Monza.
"I would say the race pace was even better than expected. The balance was just quite nice. For most of the first stint we were looking good on the tyres," Verstappen said.
"We did the right strategy. We pitted to the hards so I could push flat out to the end.
"I understood the strategy of McLaren staying out hoping for a safety car. But at the end it was quite straight forward. That's nice sometimes. Experimenting but at the same time trying to find solutions.
"Throughout this season we've been a bit all over the shop and I think now we've found a direction that suits the car so I hope from now onwards it will be a little bit more consistent."
Red Bull's win saw them close the gap to 21 points to third-place Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship.
Runaway leaders McLaren extended their advantage at the summit, but there was controversy involving Norris and Piastri.
McLaren ordered Piastri, running in third on lap 45, to come into the pits before Norris, with the Australian enjoying a clean stop that came in at just 1.9 seconds.
However, when Norris entered the pits a lap later, a fault with a wheel gun delayed him, allowing Piastri to undercut him and take second place with seven laps remaining.
McLaren told Piastri to hand the position back to Norris and then said the pair were free to fight it out, with the Briton holding on to close the gap in the Drivers' Championship.
When Verstappen was told about the situation unfolding behind him by his race engineer, he responded: "Ha! Just because he has a slow stop?" but he did not want to delve further into the discussion after the race.
"I'm not going to comment on what they have to do because [McLaren] run the team how they want to run it," Verstappen added.
"From my side, mistakes happen. Sometimes you can have a slow stop, or you can make a mistake or have a failure. That's all part of racing.
"It's between them anyway in the championship, so they have the full right to do what they want."
And when asked about the possibility of challenging Norris and Piastri for race wins in the closing stages of the season, Verstappen was optimistic.
"We will try for sure, we will go step by step and race by race, but for us this was an unbelievable weekend," Verstappen said.
