After Max Verstappen said on Saturday that the Red Bull car was made out of paper, the Dutchman managed to reach the most beautiful podium on the Formula 1 calendar a day later: the iconic podium hanging above Monza’s main straight.
The race pace proved considerably better than Verstappen had thought possible after qualifying, although he stresses that the same problems were still present.
During the race, the four-time world champion already said that the rear axle felt broken, which relates back to what he explained to Dutch media on Saturday: certain components at the rear of the RB22 sometimes deteriorate during a session, which Verstappen calls "car degradation".
Verstappen stresses that the issue was still hampering him on Sunday on his way to third place behind the Mercedes duo.
"It was still there, nothing changed. It’s just not good. You struggle on the bumps, the kerbs, and especially in the low-speed," the Dutchman said in the post-race press conference.
"It’s still like the rear axle is just not very compliant. So, for sure, it was again not ideal today and costing us performance, but it is what it is."
Verstappen said he was still experiencing problems at the rear of the Red Bull on Sunday
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
Besides the issue at the rear of the RB22, Verstappen says there was another factor that made an even bigger difference: the Mercedes power unit is considerably more efficient in terms of energy deployment than Red Bull Ford Powertrains' version.
"I think it was quite clear during the race that we just can’t keep up with the deployment of the Mercedes-powered cars, and that is, of course, very tough on a track like Monza," he said.
Partly because of that, Verstappen tried braking particularly late for the second chicane, where he fought back around the outside on a few occasions after being overtaken through Curva Grande.
"[I didn’t enjoy it] a lot when people just drive by you like you’re a turtle," he said.
"But, yeah, just send it back around the outside. The car is good on the brakes, so that helps. I had good confidence to attack the braking zones. Two times I managed to do that in Turn 2 and 4.
"That is enjoyable, but at the same time also frustrating. I just try to maximise everything that I can."
That maximising even meant Verstappen was able to fight with Mercedes for some time, but according to the Red Bull driver, that was mainly down to how powerful overtake mode was at Monza.
According to Verstappen, Red Bull had little chance against Mercedes due to the difference in efficiency between the two power units
Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images
The additional energy drivers are allowed to recover and deploy when they are within a second of the car ahead meant Verstappen was able to stay with Mercedes for a surprisingly long time. Once the gap grew to more than a second, however, his challenge effectively ended.
"Of course, with the overtake mode it looked quite promising, but as soon as I got in the lead, it was very hard to defend. And that has been my problem a bit throughout the whole race," he said.
"Even when we had the VSC, we boxed, had better tyres, I’m overtaking cars, but as soon as they can hang in that overtake mode, it’s just too powerful for us to actually defend that, even on better tyres. So, it took me a while even to clear the McLarens."
Nevertheless, Verstappen’s fifth podium finish of the season is a welcome boost. Not only after his complaints on Saturday, but naturally also after Verstappen’s early crash in Zandvoort.
"For us to be on the podium after a very difficult weekend in Zandvoort, where the car was not really to my liking, [is positive]," he concluded.
"We managed to have a strong turnaround from Friday to Saturday and the car was definitely in a better window. But we still have a few bits and areas that we know we need to be better at, plus, the obvious deployment on the straights."
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