Max Verstappen bemoans Red Bull spending money on ‘something else’ rather than Monza upgrade

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Max Verstappen will start the Italian Grand Prix from the fourth row of the grid and will be hoping his title rival Lando Norris has another poor start.

Red Bull have not just lost their advantage over the likes of McLaren and Mercedes but have slipped behind them in the pecking order.

Team principal Christian Horner believes Red Bull have the fourth-fastest car now and if that continues for the rest of the year then they’ll lose both championships.

Helmut Marko has called for an investigation into McLaren and Mercedes at the Italian Grand Prix but Max Verstappen has instead urged the team to look at themselves.

Speaking to the Dutch outfit De Telegraaf, Verstappen explained where Red Bull might have gone wrong at Monza.

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Plenty of teams have brought specific parts to Monza due to the nature of the circuit.

It’s incredibly fast and downforce is a major concern for teams as they look to maximise their performance on the long straights.

However, Verstappen is worried that Red Bull have instead concentrated their efforts elsewhere and that could cost them on Sunday.

Both Verstappen and Sergio Perez were near the bottom of the top speed classification throughout practice and qualifying which could leave them vulnerable to being overtaken going into the first chicane.

Max Verstappen worried about Red Bull’s lack of Monza-specific upgrade

Talking about qualifying in the paddock, Verstappen said: “Although it doesn’t help here that we don’t have a special Monza rear wing.

“That’s not ideal, considering the top speed. We never had that in the past years either, but then the car was good enough to compensate for that.

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“Now it’s something we might have to do next year. Now the team has made a different choice and they’d rather spend the money on something else.

“But if you already have problems with the car, this makes it even worse. But of course, it’s not our only problem.”

Martin Brundle worried after watching Max Verstappen’s onboard camera

Red Bull’s car were incredibly difficult to drive in qualifying at Monza and way off the pace of their rivals.

Sergio Perez could only get the best out of his RB20 when he was running on used soft tyres.

Meanwhile, Verstappen struggled throughout and was understandably disappointed with where he ended up on the grid.

Martin Brundle couldn’t believe what he was seeing on Verstappen’s onboard camera as he struggled to wrestle his car around the track.

Red Bull’s advantage from the beginning of the season has gone and Verstappen now has to use all of his talent to try and hold off Norris at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

Norris has the benefit of Oscar Piastri qualifying alongside him so that he can play a supporting role if necessary.

It’s a level of support Verstappen hasn’t been able to rely on this year and while Perez’s performances look likely to lose Red Bull the Constructors’ Championship at this rate, he may have also played a small role in the Dutchman missing out on winning his fourth straight title if Norris manages to close the gap.