Wachè draws first conclusions after positive opening day for Red Bull at Monza

After securing second place in front of his home crowd at Zandvoort a week ago, Max Verstappen has also kicked off the Monza weekend in strong fashion.

The four-time world champion ended the day sixth fastest, just two tenths behind leader Lando Norris.

He also looked sharp in race simulations, finishing with the second-best long-run average—once again behind the McLaren driver.

Commenting on Monza’s opening day, Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché said: “This track is quite specific due to the level of downforce you have to run, last year we had quite high difficulty to set up and stabilise the car.''

He then added: ''We have focused on ourselves and mainly tried to work on set up for the long run and that looks positive, we still have work to do on the Soft, we have struggled during today to extract performance on that compound.''

Finally, he concluded: ''This track is tricky with the graining, there is a risk here with a smooth track and very high-speed corners. We will try to protect and save the tyre and balance the car well to be successful here.”

Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, ended the day ninth fastest, two tenths off his teammate in a session where single-lap gaps were very tight. The Japanese driver, however, failed to impress on race pace, averaging eight tenths slower than his teammate.