Verstappen was the only driver with knowledge of the tyres in Italy'.

Max Verstappen showed in his first lap that he was going to claim victory in Italy. According to F1 expert Peter Windsor, Verstappen was the only driver in the field who had useful knowledge about tyre compounds (due to perfect preparation).

In Saturday's qualifying session of the Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari treated the home crowd to another highlight that the tifosi have been craving for months now. Charles Leclerc set the fastest lap and was able to start the race from pole position without any grid penalties. Verstappen was dropped from P2 to P7 due to a grid penalty, but almost made up for it on lap one. Entering the first corner of the second lap, the Dutchman already had full view of Mercedes driver George Russell on P2.

Preparation Verstappen gave him great advantage

Verstappen was in control of the race and seemed to be angling for victory on strategy. Even on the track, the Red Bull Racing driver could have caught up with his rival Leclerc. The Dutchman's perfect preparation this weekend meant he had a major advantage; Windsor said in a YouTube video . "Everything Verstappen did on Friday and Saturday in terms of those long runs, paid off on race day. He went into the Grand Prix with the only driver with any real knowledge of what the soft tyre and the medium tyre were going to be like under various fuel loads, various track conditions."

Windsor saw that in the race: "When it started to go off, or if things changed [he'd know] when to adapt his style. One thing to say good tyre management and deg in general was quite low, all credit to Pirelli for that, but it's quite another to know how to react to what's going on around you. That's what Verstappen did. He had the confidence to start on the soft tyre and pushing that right through to lap 23."