Max Verstappen finished third at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix after fighting a Red Bull that lacked both rear-end confidence and straight-line speed. The result came after Verstappen started fifth at Monza, survived a late duel with Oscar Piastri, and nearly ran off the circuit when the track surface began breaking apart at Turn 2.
The Mercedes pair finished ahead of him, but Verstappen’s podium was hardly easy to win. He had qualified sixth with a 1:22.070 lap, then moved up to fifth on the grid after Piastri received a three-place penalty for impeding Liam Lawson in qualifying.
Verstappen Used The Outside Line To Stay In The Fight
During qualifying, Verstappen had already warned that a recurring problem at the rear of his Red Bull was costing performance over Monza’s kerbs and bumps.
That concern followed him into Sunday’s race. Monza rewards low drag, strong acceleration out of its chicanes, and a car that can attack the kerbs. The Dutchman admitted that Red Bull was losing a large amounts of time between Turns 2 and 4 – something that pushed the driver to explore the outside line.
“There were some good battles out there. I had to send them many times on the outside because we were just struggling a lot with deployment from turn two to four compared to our competitors, and in general I think top speed wasn’t our friend today…”
A McLaren Battle And A Damaged Track Surface Defined The Finish
Piastri overtook Verstappen for third place on lap 41, but Verstappen quickly reclaimed the position and continued to push forward. During his approach to Turn 2, loose debris from the crumbling asphalt nearly caused him to lose control and veer off the track.
“…I had one tricky moment in turn two because the tarmac was opening up, so I almost just went off because I picked up like the gravel from the tarmac.
“And then I had the McLarens in my Overtake Mode and yeah, it makes quite a big difference around here. And yeah, once I cleared them, happy with P3 and to be on the podium there.”
The four-time champion began the weekend with a compromised rear end, lacked the deployment and top speed needed to make Monza comfortable, and still had to defend his podium against two raging McLarens.