Red Bull's woes continue as Max Verstappen finishes sixth in Italian Grand Prix

Red Bull and Max Verstappen's struggles continued on Sunday in the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. The reigning champion finished sixth as McLaren and Lando Norris took another step toward closing the gap in the drivers' and constructors' championship. Charles Leclerc won the home race for his Ferrari team, with Norris and Oscar Piastri finishing second and third.

Verstappen knew before the race that his car would struggle again, as it has in the last few races compared to McLaren. He said prior to the race that he did not feel the car was quicker than any of the six drivers starting ahead of him on the grid.

The 26-year-old made an uneventful start, although he told his team that Lewis Hamilton did not give him enough space in the Mercedes, adding that he had been given a time penalty for this in the past.

Red Bull's plan for Verstappen was to have the driver maintain his tires, as he had started on hard tires rather than the medium tires that most cars started with.

He was top in the race briefly in the 20th lap as the other drivers entered the pits. He was told in the 21st lap that he could now pick up the pace.

This was because he was called for his first pit stop a lap later. His pit stop was also slow which did not make things any easier for the reigning champion as the mechanics struggled to replace the back left tire. Verstappen came out of the pits in sixth place.

Verstappen got fourth place due to the pit stops of other drivers, which led to a battle with Norris, who was attacking from behind. Verstappen did his best, but Norris got past him in the 41st lap.

The rest of the race was without any incidents, as it was clear that the car lacked the pace to catch the fifth spot but was also not in danger of getting caught from behind.

This seemed to be the feeling amongst the Red Bull team, too, who Verstappen complained about near the end of the race, saying that they needed to wake up and that he was not receiving any more communication from them. "I know this is a shit position, but it's still important," he said to the team.

The lead at the top of the driver's championship and the constructor's championship has dwindled for Red Bull due to the disappointing last few months in which the team has not won any of their last six races.

Verstappen is still 62 points ahead of Lando Norris, however Red Bull are just eight points ahead of McLaren in the constructors championship.