Max Verstappen has admitted that Red Bull has made a major change in its technical operations since Laurent Mekies took over as Team Principal from Christian Horner, who was axed in June. The Dutchman won the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, September 7, with a surprisingly dominant drive, to which McLaren had no response. One of the key factors behind his RB21 coming alive at Monza was his decision to go against technical director Pierre Wache to ask for less wing on his car, meaning less downforce. Verstappen's decision "luckily" worked out for Red Bull, and it marked a key shift in the team's setup operations.The four-time F1 champion spoke about this major change, wherein Red Bull has started giving precedence to driver feedback over simulator learnings. During the post-race FIA press conference, Max Verstappen highlighted the greater technical expertise that Laurent Mekies brings to the team, which is aiding their revival after a period of deteriorating results under Horner's leadership."Up until now we've had a lot of races where we were just shooting left and right a little bit with the setup of the car. Quite extreme changes, which shows that we were not in control. We were not fully understanding what to do.With Laurent having an engineering background, he's asking the right questions to the engineers – common-sense questions – so I think that works really well," Verstappen said. A considerable part of Red Bull's downfall began in the aftermath of technical mastermind Adrian Newey's exit. The 66-year-old was rumored to have had a fallout with Christian Horner in the wake of the latter's controversy over alleged involvement with a female employee of the team and the following airing of the team's dirty laundry in public.Max Verstappen explains key change in the feel of Red Bull's challenger after "unbelievable" Italian GP winMax Verstappen and Lando Norris spray champagne on the F1 Italian Grand Prix podium - Source: GettyMax Verstappen broke more than one longstanding record at the 2025 Italian Grand Prix. In qualifying on Saturday, his pole lap of 1:18.792 was the fastest lap in F1 history on average speed (164.466 mph), surpassing Lewis Hamilton's 2020 Monza pole lap time of 1:18.887 (average speed 164.267 mph).Moreover, he converted pole into a third victory at the Temple of Speed. In doing so, Verstappen broke the record for the fastest/shortest F1 race (1 hour, 13 minutes, and 23 seconds), beating Michael Schumacher's record at the 200 Italian GP (1 hour, 14 minutes, 19 seconds).In the post-race press conference, the Red Bull driver explained what made the difference in the pace of his RB21. When asked about the difference between the challenging-to-drive Red Bull of a few races ago compared to Monza, Verstappen replied:"Well, before it felt like you were a passenger in the car. We had some races where it was just not balanced. And now, finally, there was more balance in the car, and then the tyres also behave a little bit more normal."Max Verstappen's victory at Monza, which he felt was "unbelievable," meant he swept F1's 2025 Italian visits, having won the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola in May. However, McLaren grabbed the biggest headlines on Sunday, with a controversial team order taking the F1 world by storm.