‘We were flying’ – Verstappen hails ‘unbelievable weekend’ as he takes victory at Monza

Max Verstappen praised his Red Bull team for their execution of an “unbelievable weekend” after surging to victory in the Italian Grand Prix, with the Dutchman admitting that he was “flying” following some drama at the start.

Having lined up in pole position, Verstappen initially faced a challenge from Lando Norris for the lead before skipping the chicane to hold the position. The World Champion then gave the place back at the start of the second tour, but subsequently retook P1 just a couple of laps later.

Verstappen was unchallenged from there onwards as he stretched out a gap to keep the McLarens at bay, going on to clinch the win by 19 seconds from Norris.

Reflecting on his drive to victory at Monza, Verstappen said: “It was a great day for us. Of course Lap 1 was a bit unlucky, but after that we were flying and that was for me really enjoyable.

“We managed the pace quite well throughout that first stint, and I think we pitted at the right time, and with the hard tyres at the end you can push a bit more – they’re a bit more resilient.

“Fantastic execution by everyone from the whole team. I think the whole weekend we were on it and it’s super enjoyable to win here.”

Pushed on whether he still felt it was possible to win after handing the lead back in the opening stages, Verstappen added: “I could see that their medium pace was very good.

“I just needed to settle in, there was a lot of fighting going on. And then I could see the pace was there – quite quickly we were back in the lead.”

The triumph marked Verstappen’s third in a Grand Prix this season. When asked if he expects to have further chances during the remainder of the campaign, the Red Bull driver conceded: “We’ll try, for sure.

“We’ll go step by step, race by race, but for us this of course was an unbelievable weekend.”