Max Verstappen reveals the secret to Red Bull’s pace at the 2025 Emilia Romagna GP was the high-speed corners at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari as he took the win ahead of the McLarens.
The defending world champion qualified second in Imola, before pulling off a ridiculous move around the outside of Oscar Piastri to snatch the lead, thereafter showing more than sufficient pace to stay ahead of the Australian.
He then weathered the storm of two safety cars (one virtual) and, combined with smart strategy from Hannah Schmitz’s team on the pit wall, made sure he had the right tyres to go on to deliver his second victory of the season.
Following the wake of the Miami GP, where McLaren won by 37 seconds ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes, few expected them to be beaten at the very next time of asking.
But that’s not how things shaped out in Italy on Sunday, May 18 so how exactly did Red Bull do it? Verstappen reveals the secret to their impressive 2025 Emilia Romagna GP win lay in the corner profiles – and does he think they can win in Monaco next time out too?
“I do think this track has quite a few high-speed corners which I think our car likes,” Verstappen told media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “I also think we took a step forward with the setup of the car, which helps.
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“Monaco is very different, so let’s see how we are going to perform there. Last year was very difficult for us. I don’t expect it to be a lot easier this time around because it’s a lot of low speed, but we’ll see.
“It’s just one race on the calendar where you try to do the best you can. Even after that, there are a lot of races left but you can clearly see that once we go to higher-speed tracks and corners, we are more competitive.”
Can Red Bull fight for the F1 2025 titles after Emilia Romagna GP? Verstappen reveals thoughts
The defending champion now closes to within 22 points of the summit of the Formula 1 standings, a remarkable effort considering the advantage McLaren have enjoyed over the rest of the field.
He’s doing just enough to ensure he remains within touching distance of Piastri and Lando Norris, meaning if Red Bull continue to chip away at the lap time and find more advantages, he still has a chance to become a five-time champion by December.
But how realistic does he think the prospect of matching Juan Manuel Fangio is? The 27-year-old takes a more modest approach when it comes to admitting he’s back in the title hunt, but he declares his team are stepping up their game.
“I think it’s very track specific,” Verstappen added, of his chances of winning. “Every time that we’ve been really competitive, it’s been high-speed tracks, high-speed corners. We still have work to do, but I do think it’s been a very positive weekend for us.
“We brought upgrades and I think they worked. Friday was very difficult still, but we found a better setup for Saturday. I hope we can use that a bit more often because it definitely brought the car into a better window.”
