Verstappen will look back in Monza: 'This is not a track for us'

Max Verstappen will start the Italian Grand Prix from pole position, after finishing second behind Valtteri Bottas in the sprint race. However, the Finn will receive a grid penalty due to a new engine. As a result, Verstappen has only McLaren around him, with Daniel Ricciardo in second place and Lando Norris behind him on P3. Title rival Lewis Hamilton will start from fourth so will have to hope for a good start.

"I hope it will be an easy race, but I don't think that's going to be the case. It will be very important to have a good start, but in general, Mercedes has a lot of speed. What is also going to be important is to have a good start and make a gap in the opening stages. Then we will see what happens behind me. This track is normally not very good for us, but we will go for it. The build-up for the Italian Grand Prix.

Verstappen looking forward to the battle at Monza

This season, Verstappen is in a close title race with Hamilton, who he will not have right next to him at the start. So far, the fight for the title has been one to savour, the Dutchman himself sees."Not only me, but I think everyone in F1 enjoys it. You don't want one team or driver to win everything. You want two teams fighting it out with each other and that's always good."

There are also many Dutch fans present in Monza and Verstappen also takes the time to thank the fans for their presence."It's super that I get so much support all over Europe. It's great that so many people are here again and hopefully we can make it a great day and get a good result again," the Dutchman concludes.