Max Verstappen: “We should stand a good chance” of Italian GP victory

Max Verstappen made a strong start to the Italian Grand Prix, where the Dutchman ended the day in second-place, just over a tenth behind Carlos Sainz Jr.

The reigning World Champion spent a lot of time focusing on his race set-up, with the championship leader set for a five-place grid penalty on Sunday for taking a new Internal Combustion Engine. Whilst overtaking is usually difficult at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, it should be somewhat easy for the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver, due to the RB18’s superior top speed.

Verstappen ended Friday believing that the car was “pretty good”, but does recognise that Scuderia Ferrari are also looking mighty fast at their home race.

“I think the car was pretty good today, we’ve been trying a few different things from FP1 to FP2. Some things worked and some didn’t, if you look at the long runs we look good and of course that’s most important for the race.

“We did more long run practice knowing that we have the five place grid penalty on Sunday, everything seemed to work out quite well. There are still a few things that we can do better, but I think we should stand a good chance. The Ferraris look good, I’m not worried about them but we still have a few things to finalise.”

Both Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Pérez have a special message on their nose this weekend, following the tragic death of Queen Elizabeth II, who died Thursday afternoon aged ninety-six. A minute’s silence took place prior to Free Practice One, with another scheduled to take place before Sunday’s race. The entire team will also wear black armbands as a sign of respect to Her Majesty.

“We have pretty good information going forward” – Sergio Pérez

Pérez was again some way behind his team-mate on the opening day at Monza, which he ended in sixth-place.

The Mexican was six-tenths of a second behind his superior team-mate; however, Pérez was also prioritising his race set-up. The Monaco Grand Prix winner has also taken a new ICE for this weekend, but will face a ten-place grid penalty instead of a five-place. It means Pérez is likely to start in the bottom quarter of the field for Sunday’s race, making a podium highly unlikely.

Nevertheless, Pérez is happy with his Day One performance in Italy with himself and the team having “plenty of data” to review.

“We have been playing around with the set-up, exploring different directions, so I think all in all we have pretty good information going forward. We have used different downforce levels as well, so we have plenty of data for us to review tonight which is quite promising.

“We managed to complete a very solid programme today and we are fairly comparable to Max’s car, there are just a couple of differences. I think the main thing will be the race pace and how the tyres last around this track will also be key for the race. I am looking forward to tomorrow but mainly Sunday, overtaking will be hard but I think the degradation looks promising.”

Credit: Peter Fox/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool