Italy 2019 - GP preview - Red Bull

Alex Albon

“I’m looking forward to Monza and I actually lived in Italy for two years when I raced in go karts, so I have a lot of friends there. Last week was a bit of a blur and there was so much to take in, maybe that’s partly why I looked so chilled! I kind of glided through the week, so now my first weekend is over I will take some time to reflect and see what I need to work on with the Team. Fifth was a great result but there are definitely things I need to work on and improve so I’ll do my homework ahead of this weekend to try and understand the car more. Monza will really be a continuation of the work we did in Spa and I’ll keep on learning as much as I can. I think it’s a good thing Spa and Monza are back-to-back races as after the race on Sunday, I jump in the sim on Wednesday and keep everything fresh in my mind ahead of the weekend. That way I don’t need time to re-understand the car. I think on my side we’re going to focus more on qualifying runs which is fun, whereas in Spa we looked more at race runs because of the penalty. Monza obviously isn’t the easiest track for us, but I’ve driven the car now so I think FP1 will be a bit smoother this time around! I’m also more comfortable with everyone in the Team as I didn’t know many people before going to the circuit last week. Everyone is very friendly, there’s a great atmosphere and now it’s just about understanding how everything works. I’m guessing, and hoping, there will be a lot less noise and attention on Thursday so that it’s a bit quieter for me! As for the track, it’s actually not one that I love driving-wise. There’s just something about it but I still managed to fight for third there in F2 last year and I was a tenth off pole, so it’s not a disaster!”

Max Verstappen

“It was a weekend of mixed feelings in Spa and it definitely put things into perspective but I’m glad we have back-to-back races so we can get straight back on it this weekend. Monza is super-fast which makes it great fun to drive but it can also be a challenge for us and like Spa, it isn’t our strongest circuit on the calendar. For me, the best parts are the high-speed sections and to nail the last corner is not easy but when you do it feels really nice. Monza has so much history around it and the fans are some of the most passionate we see all year. There is plenty of red in the grandstands but hopefully the orange army will also be out to support us in full force this weekend.”