Red Bull might have changed their minds on under-pressure chief after Italian Grand Prix honour

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Red Bull produced an unlikely and dominant victory with Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman finished 19.2 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, in what looked more like a race from last season compared to the struggles faced by Red Bull this year.

Norris was quickest in the practice sessions, but the familiar errors crept in during qualifying. In the race, the McLaren driver was unable to match Verstappen on top speed, having opted for a higher downforce setup for ultimate lap time.

McLaren also committed an unforced error by pitting Oscar Piastri first instead of lead car Norris, with a slow wheel gunman causing the Briton to emerge behind his teammate in the final laps.

It stoked unwanted tension at a time when McLaren needs stability to secure its Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, while Verstappen was out there proving that he is still giving them headaches.

Red Bull show confidence in Pierre Wache despite Max Verstappen criticism

Red Bull’s success at Monza was unexpected, considering this was their worst track in 2024 and they were two tenths off the ultimate pace set by McLaren on Friday.

But as ever, their overnight changes between Friday and Saturday paid off. Red Bull also took a lot of learnings from Zandvoort into the weekend, with the key being a focus on the aero balance.

The lead technical head since Adrian Newey’s departure has been Pierre Wache, who has been one of the main figureheads during their recent run of success. But after the problems they encountered with their 2024 car manifested into an uncompetitive 2025 offering, Verstappen was quick to criticise Wache.

Red Bull sent Wache up to the podium with Verstappen, although the Dutchman stopped short of giving him credit when speaking to the media, according to Ted Kravitz, when speaking on Sky Sports F1.

“Didn’t you think it was significant that it was Pierre Wache on the podium with Max Verstappen? We understand Max wasn’t particularly pleased with how this car was earlier on in the season. But he is someone who clearly deserves credit for turning it around with his fellow engineers, the men and women in Milton Keynes, and here at the track as well,” said Kravitz.

“That was something I thought was interesting that Max said: ‘The directions we’ve gone, we found a new way to make the car more consistent, let’s put it that way.’ So he wasn’t clearly saying: ‘Look, Pierre Wache has worked absolute miracles here and saved the car, we’re now back in the contention of the Grand Prix wins’ – Max didn’t say that today.”

Are we going to see this continue for Red Bull?

A late surge to success would not be unprecedented for Red Bull, considering they struggled midway through 2024 with wins going to McLaren and Mercedes.

Once they figured out the right trajectory, they were back to dominating races, but they still had challenges from McLaren’s Lando Norris.

While the Drivers’ Championship will be between Norris and Piastri, the late surge would benefit Red Bull mainly in the Constructors’ title battle.

They have now reduced the gap to 21 points to Mercedes after the Italian GP win, and given Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s recent form and Ferrari’s sporadic results, they could realistically snatch second place if Yuki Tsunoda benefits from the recent breakthroughs.