'Tremendous' Verstappen earns big praise after 'laser-guided' drive at Monza

After several months without a win, Verstappen managed to return to victory at Monza, doing so in style with a dominant performance that was never in doubt from the first lap.

The Dutchman had already secured pole on Saturday, outsmarting Norris in the very last Q3 attempt.

After battling the British driver in the opening two laps, the four-time world champion pulled away, ultimately winning the race by a clear margin.

A performance that Martin Brundle couldn’t help but praise in his column for Sky Sports following the Monza weekend: ''Max Verstappen grabbed pole position in Italy with another great lap, but it wasn't simply one of his laser-guided specials at just the right moment.''

The British journalist highlighted how Monza has recently been a track where Red Bull has struggled. Just think of last year’s edition, when Verstappen qualified seventh, nearly a second off pole, and finished only sixth in the race.

''Max won by 20 seconds from McLaren, albeit four of those seconds lost with the pit stop and subsequent swaparound, but that's still nearly a minute of net turnaround for Red Bull since last year, impressive,'' he finally added.

With his return to victory, the Dutchman has risen to 230 points in the Drivers’ Championship, now 63 points behind Norris and 94 behind Piastri.

These numbers don’t rule him out of the title fight yet, but with eight races remaining, it will be difficult for Verstappen to get back into contention.