Nico Rosberg claims Max Verstappen's Red Bull was slower than Lando Norris' McLaren in Monza

F1 insider Nico Rosberg claimed that Max Verstappen did not have the fastest car on the grid despite his victory against the dominating McLaren in Monza. He also mentioned that the Dutchman has been playing around with the car's setup, which enabled him to have a strong weekend.

Max Verstappen's dominant period came to an end this season with the RB21 failing to perform competitively. While he did manage to clinch two early victories in the season, he had been sitting much closer to the midfield in most races, and Red Bull Racing dropped to fourth place in the Constructors' Championship.

However, he delivered a strong victory at Monza earlier during the Italian GP. He set the pole position on Saturday, setting the fastest F1 lap in history, and went on to win the race by a wide margin, showcasing raw pace and competitiveness.

Despite the show of pace, 2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg claimed that he did not have the best car during the race.

"Yeah, and he his [Verstappen's] car wasn't the best car this weekend. I'm pretty sure of that," he said on the Sky F1 podcast.

Rosberg further explained that Verstappen has been working with Red Bull to tweak the car's setup against what the simulations suggest. He claimed that the Dutchman's understanding of the car has enabled him to work on the fundamental setup, and it was his decision to give up on downforce, trim the rear wing to the slimmest, and maximize the top speed.

"What what I learned about Max Verstappen is that he's also now becoming or has been, I don't know, so smart on that he actually does set such fundamental setup decision," Rosberg added.

"That's also a new facet which I hadn't seen so often yet. And that's impressive because that's probably one of the key ingredients to the win this weekend was his determination to push through his view on the setup which was we need to take more wing off and you know rear wing the simulation tells you where the optimum wing is."

This was Versatppen's first victory since Imola, and while this does not make him a contender for the championship, it did spice things up for the two McLaren contenders.

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How did Max Verstappen manage to win against the dominating McLaren?

Max Verstappen leads the 2025 Italian GP from Lando Norris (Getty Images)

McLaren has had multiple advantages with their car this season. The MCL39 is extremely efficient at not overheating the tires and can go through corners at amazing speeds, which has helped the team to get into the dominant state this season.

However, those advantages were lost heading into Monza. The track requires the least downforce of any other track on the current F1 calendar. Moreover, tire degradation wasn't an issue for any of the teams throughout the weekend, making it an equal race for the drivers.

Max Verstappen thrived under this situation. The team's decision to trim the rear wing down to the slimmest helped them to gain maximum top speed, which made it difficult to overtake despite the DRS advantage. Moreover, the opening-lap battle with Charles Leclerc kept Oscar Piastri far from chasing the lead, and Lando Norris was the only McLaren that had a realistic chance of winning.

Piastri leads the Drivers' Championship despite his P3 finish. However, Norris managed to narrow the gap.