Red Bull’s ‘extreme’ weakness with 2025 F1 car fixed as Max Verstappen claims all-time F1 record

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Red Bull claimed a surprise pole at the Italian Grand Prix with Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman setting a new all-time record.

Verstappen’s 1:18.792 broke the lap record previously held by Lewis Hamilton in 2020, with the Red Bull driver setting it at the final moment of qualifying to beat Lando Norris.

Norris was the pace-setter for most of the weekend in the McLaren, but made a few mistakes in Q2 and did not have an ideal first run at the start of Q3.

That put him on the back foot and enabled Verstappen to capitalise, setting the provisional pole lap before going a tenth quicker to secure pole by 0.077s from Norris.

Verstappen’s effort was likely possible as a result of the learnings Red Bull made in Zandvoort, according to journalist Jonathan Noble, who discussed the squad’s remarkable turnaround on The Race YouTube.

Red Bull made key learnings at Zandvoort that enabled Monza pole record

The Red Bull RB21 has been a difficult car to drive compared to its predecessor, as evidenced by the Milton Keynes squad currently lying fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.

It has been a tough season for defending champion Verstappen, but Noble explains how Red Bull might have made a breakthrough that could see them improve their position in the final races this season.

“They found that there was an extreme balance shift on telemetry data, that once the downforce came off the car, it highlighted a weakness, and they took away the lessons of that weekend and made it their focus this weekend,” said Noble.

“Last weekend in Zandvoort, Paul Monaghan discussed the key aspect, and the success of this car isn’t about opening up a setup window, but rather about actually reducing the balance window, which means shifting the aero balance.

“You no longer have huge oversteer heading into the corners and huge understeer on the way out, it’s very consistent, and that’s what’s unlocked a lot of pace.”

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The ‘key detail’ that enabled Max Verstappen’s pole

Not only did Verstappen break the lap record at Zandvoort, he also produced the fastest average lap time speed in F1 history.

His average speed of 164.465mph was 0.2mph quicker than Hamilton’s effort in 2020 in the Mercedes W11, something former F1 strategist Ruth Buscombe believes is down to a rear wing Red Bull previously introduced at Spa.

“Key detail: Red Bull did it with the same Spa low-drag wing that won them the Sprint. Efficiency in a straight line + stability through Lesmo and Ascari = the perfect Monza package,” wrote Buscombe on X (formerly Twitter)

Damon Hill gave a two-word reaction to Verstappen when he beat Hamilton’s record, while the Dutchman believed the Mercedes W11 was still quicker because of the track changes that have been in place since 2023 at Monza.