Championship contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have given their thoughts ahead of Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.
Verstappen came into his home weekend chasing his first victory since June’s Spanish GP, which would have re-energized his championship defence.
Behind the scenes, all wasn’t well with Red Bull at Zandvoort. The team struggled with the balance of the RB20, which caused the Dutchman to struggle with handling.
Despite taking the lead from Norris at the start, Verstappen had to settle for second behind the Brit as McLaren cut into his and Red Bull’s lead in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
Those balance issues could return at Monza, which has been resurfaced since last year, with corners such as the Variante Ascari and the Retfifilo reprofiled.
“Well, I mean, the problem is at Zandvoort with the wind and the rain, it was very difficult to get a bit of a read, but, yeah, different weekend now,” said Verstappen to selected media outlets, including autoevolution. “Of course, besides the stuff they want to try on the car, the track is quite different, so also need to keep track of that to make the right calls, but yeah, we’re trying a lot of stuff to try and improve the balance of the car.
“I think the biggest issue we had here was the grip was very low, so I think just a resurface would have been already very good, maybe even add a few kerbs because they were quite wavey, I would say.
“Let’s see how it feels because, yeah, I mean, Ascari, for example, looks completely different from what it was. I don’t know if it’s better or worse.”
Norris not changing approach despite crucial Dutch GP win
With the pressure on, Norris duly delivered in Zandvoort, taking a superb pole position with a lap over three-tenths quicker than Verstappen’s best time.
Off the line, the Brit came off second best as the Dutchman beat him into Turn 1. But he kept his head down and ruthlessly chased the Red Bull for 18 laps, eating into the reigning world champion’s lead.
With DRS enabled, Norris breezed past into the lead and set about stamping down his marker on the rest of the competition. The final margin between him and Verstappen at the chequered flag was over 20 seconds, securing his second F1 win and putting him back into championship contention.
“Probably not as much as you think,” said Norris during Thursday’s FIA press conference. “And I think because I struggled a lot with this when I started in Formula 1, like my first, second year, and into my third [year]. Because I struggled with it so much back then, I feel like I learned pretty well how to handle it.
“And that’s also helped me even in the position that I am now. I know I’m maybe not directly in the fight of a championship where I’m neck and neck with Max, but just dealing with more questions and the pressure of everyone thinking that I have to deliver every single weekend, also knowing myself that I have to deliver every single weekend.
“But I think because I struggled a bit with it or quite a bit with it in the past, I feel like I’m able to deal with it in a much better way now. And therefore, it doesn’t have much of an effect. There still is. And I know there’s more pressure. The team are probably going to feel a little bit more pressure.
“And externally, there will be more pressure on me. But it’s also up to me to deal with it in the way that I feel best. And at the same time, therefore, I don’t really feel it that much. I’m comfortable that I just have to go out and drive. That’s all I can do, really, not think about these external things. The place I am now is fighting for wins and fighting in the Championship. Honestly, I feel like it’s another weekend.”
Verstappen not thinking about losing the Championship
The fight between Norris and Verstappen completely contrasts with the 2023 championship, where the latter dominated.
Verstappen won an impressive 19 races in what would be a record-breaking season and cruised to an easy third consecutive world title. Red Bull also won their second successive constructors title.
But since 2024, Red Bull has rapidly unravelled amidst an ongoing power struggle between Verstappen’s father, former Benetton driver Jos, and team principal Christian Horner.
Horner also faced being axed as team principal of Red Bull after evidence of misconduct towards a team employee emerged in February 2024. Although he was initially cleared, the employee later appealed before the investigation concluded in August, with the Brit being cleared again.
Elsewhere, legendary designer Adrian Newey confirmed he would leave Red Bull in May, while team boss Jonathan Wheatley was signed to join the Audi/Sauber project in 2025.
Nevertheless, off-track matters became a sidenote when Verstappen won four of the first five races before losing to Norris in Miami. But since the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola, Red Bull has been on the back foot, losing ground against McLaren in both championship races.
Verstappen initially showed he could cope with the pressure by taking gutsy wins in Imola, Montreal, and Barcelona. Still, at the Red Bull Ring, he collided with Norris, who gave him a puncture. The stewards deemed him at fault for the incident and handed him a five-second penalty, dropping him to fifth.
“Listen, I just do the best I can, if I win it or not, it’s not going to change my life, ” explained Verstappen. “Would I like to win it? Yes, of course, but it’s not in my hands with the performance of the car.
“Because I try to do the best I can, try to give feedback, try to make it faster if that’s going to be enough to the end of the year, I don’t know, but I do know we’re going to get it everything we have as a team to try and be more then what we showed of course at Zandvoort.
“Because that was just a poor weekend for us and just go from there. I am enjoying it, yeah, would I like to win more? Yes, of course, I would, but I also knew that a season like last year was very unrealistic [to repeat], but did I expect it to be like this, not really, with of course how we ended and how we started.
“Now it’s up to us to try and make it better, but I know everyone is working flat out to make it better.”
