Reigning world champion Max Verstappen won four consecutive Imola wins, beating McLaren’s Rand Norris and F1 driver ranking leader Oscar Piastri.
Max Verstappen gave his Formula 1 title defense a big boost with his victory at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix after boldly overtaking his first ranking leader Oscar Piastri.
The Dutch driver built the command lead on Sunday. He still beats Rand Norris ahead of him.
Verstappen won the second time in the season, denying Piastri, who finished third in the first place after last month’s Japan Grand Prix.
Verstappen praised the Red Bull team for their “great run all-around” as the team won their 400th F1 race.
“The start itself wasn’t that big, but I was still on the outer line, or basically normal [racing] Line, and I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to send it around the outside’, and it really worked out,'” Verstappen said of his important overtaking.
Norris’ late race moves were mostly Verstappen’s copies, but Norris had the advantage of taking fresh tires over his teammates.
“We had a good little fight between Oscar and myself. It’s always tense, but it’s always fun,” Norris said.
Piastri’s lead against Norris in the ranking was reduced to 13 points. Verstappen rounds out the top three with a nine-pointer from Norris.
Hamilton bounces back
Lewis Hamilton recovered from 12th on the grid and finished fourth in his first race at Ferrari in Italy.
Hamilton benefited from a late race battle between teammates Charles Leclerc and Williams’ Alex Albon.
Albon complained that he kicked him out of the truck when Leclair fought fourth, and after Hamilton overtook both drivers, Ferrari eventually asked Leclair to ask Albon to go fifth.
George Russell was seventh for Mercedes ahead of second Williams’ Carlos Senn Jr.
Isack Hadjar was 9th in the Racing Bulls, and Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda was 10th after a crash in qualifying.
“Farewell” full of action to Imola
The overtaking was expected to be rare if it could be the last race of Formula 1 in the near future at Imola. Instead, Italian fans were treated to Verstappen’s epic moves and many other overtakings at the start.
The narrow and bumpy Imola truck has been a favorite among drivers who have enjoyed the old school challenge since returning to Formula 1 schedules during the Covid-19 pandemic. Still, Italy’s second race status – with only the US hosting multiple people – makes its position vulnerable.
“If we don’t come back here, that’s going to be a shame,” Piastri said Saturday.
Sunday’s race was the last under Imola’s current contract, but while it’s not officially a goodbye yet, there was nothing about next year.
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