Verstappen: It's a great pleasure to win in Monza

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen said today that the entire team was maximally focused during the race weekend in Monza, and that it was a pleasure to control the pace and achieve victory on the legendary track.

"It was a great day for us, we were flying and I enjoyed the car, I was able to control the pace during the period on the first tyres (medium hard). We went to the pits at the right time, and the hard tyres allow you to put more pressure on the end because they are durable... The whole team was fantastic, I think we were fully focused and it is an incredible pleasure to win here," said Verstappen, reported the BBC.

Verstappen recorded the 66th triumph of his career at the Monza track, the first since May 18th and the celebration at Imola.

The Dutchman, who is a four-time consecutive world champion, also spoke about the start and the battle with Lando Norris from McLaren for first place.

"I knew the pace was good, I just needed to calm down, there was a lot of fighting, but I could see the speed was there and I regained the lead very quickly (on the fourth lap)," he assessed.

After poor results during the season, Verstappen emphasizes that the team will go from race to race.

"We're taking it step by step and race by race, but this has been an incredible weekend for us," the 27-year-old Red Bull driver pointed out.

Second and third place in today's race were taken by McLaren drivers Norris and Oscar Piastre.

The two are the main competitors in the fight for the title, and Norris points out that this was a very difficult race in which the car was much slower than Verstappen's.

"I did everything I could today. I couldn't do any more. I tried to fight against Max. We had a good race, but he came out on top. I just need to keep doing what I've been doing," said the British driver.

Piastre, who crossed the finish line in third, commented on the team's decision to stay on the track longer and switch to soft tires.

"The soft tyres seemed like a good choice. We stayed on track in case we got a safety car. There were a few incidents at the end, but everything stayed fine. There are a lot of things to learn from this weekend, I'm so happy that we're looking forward and we'll try to be stronger at the next race," Piastre said.

Piastre leads the championship with eight races remaining, 31 points ahead of Norris, while Verstappen is 94 points behind in third place.

The next race will be held on September 21st on the streets of the capital of Azerbaijan - Baku.