Damon Hill: Max Verstappen is “the driver of this age” after Monza F1 masterclass

1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill has heaped praise on Max Verstappen following his victory at the Italian Grand Prix.

Verstappen clinched Red Bull’s third victory of the 2025 F1 season with a dominant drive from pole position.

The four-time world champion hadn’t won a grand prix since Imola back in May amid an inconsistent run of form for the team.

During that period, Christian Horner exited the team as team principal, with Laurent Mekies as his replacement.

Verstappen also committed his future to Red Bull, ending speculation over a possible switch to Mercedes for next year.

The Dutchman produced a masterclass to come out on top at Monza, finishing ahead of the two McLarens.

Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda finished outside of the points, highlighting once again Verstappen’s talent.

Hill took to X after the race to comment on Verstappen’s performance.

The former Sky F1 pundit acknowledged that he was critical of Verstappen’s “tactics” in the past but hailed him as a “phenomenon” and the standout driver of his generation.

“I know I've been critical of some of his passing and tactics, but there is no getting away from the fact that Max Verstappen is the driver of this age,” Hill wrote on his X account.

“He's a cut above in almost every respect. A phenomenon, actually. Nice job this weekend Max.”

How did Verstappen win at Monza

While Max Verstappen started the race from pole position, he initially lost the lead into the first corner on Lap 1.

Lando Norris was braver on the brakes, forcing Verstappen to cut the corner.

As Verstappen cut the corner, he was instructed by Red Bull to give the lead back to Norris on Lap 2.

Verstappen obliged to avoid the stewards interfering.

It only took until Lap 4 for Verstappen to get ahead of Norris again, overtaking the British driver into Turn 1.

From that moment onwards, Verstappen dominated the race, opening up a six-second lead.

Verstappen stopped earlier than the two McLarens for hard tyres, allowing him to win the race by nearly 20 seconds.

His advantage would have been less had McLaren opted for the standard strategy.

Instead, they stopped late, hoping for a Safety Car when they switched to soft tyres.