After having his way for 50 laps, Verstappen’s superiority at Imola was put to the test by Lando Norris, with the Brit close to within DRS, but ran out of laps.
Verstappen won by just 0.725 seconds over the McLaren driver, with Charles Leclerc rounding out the podium.
Max Verstappen takes on Lando Norris at Imola
Lando Norris seemed to have had a better start than Max Verstappen, but even though Norris had to look in the rearview mirror as the Dutchman could be attacked by Charles Leclerc Regardless, I was able to move forward into the first corner.
All 20 drivers got clean starts, including Fernando Alonso, who started from the pit lane after Aston Martin changed its suspension following a disappointing qualifying.
Verstappen took all three laps to break through Norris’ DRS range, with the Red Bull driver pulling away from the McLaren chasing the two Ferraris. Oscar Piastri ran fifth behind George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg. The latter led a six-car DRS train that included Sergio Perez, who ran 10th on Pirelli hard tires.
Sainz was being stalked by Piastri and was hampered by the loss of DRS from his Ferrari teammate, but he tried to keep the Australians at bay, telling Ferrari, “McLaren is fast.”
Nine laps into the 63-lap race, Alex Albon pitted for new tires, but limped around the circuit without getting in the way of the riders in front of him, complaining that the tires weren’t installed correctly. There was drama at Williams when we reported. When he was rapped. He returned to the pits, fitted new tires to his FW46 and rejoined the race, but was way off the pace and finished 20th. He was given a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for an unsafe release.
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Back in the lead, Verstappen built a three-second advantage over Norris, whose McLaren teammate Piastri was behind Sainz’s Ferrari in the battle for fourth. However, he was struggling to close the last few meters.
The first of the top ten to stop was Yuki Tsunoda, coming in on lap 13, one lap behind Daniel Ricciardo. Tsunoda took the lead and returned in 15th and 16th place. Hulkenberg entered next, but lost his position to Tsunoda.
18 laps with Perez, he was the first driver to hit dirt on Imola’s improved gravel trap, losing precious seconds in the battle to close on Hamilton.
Russell pitted on lap 22, followed by Norris catching up behind Perez. Piastri was on the next lap when Norris found his way past Perez and into Tamburello.
Verstappen attacked on lap 25 and handed the lead to Leclerc for fourth place. Leclerc stopped one lap later and entered from the front, coming out behind Norris and Perez. Imitating Norris, he followed the Ferrari driver through Tamburello with Piastri and overtook the Red Bull. Sainz and Hamilton stopped on lap 28.
Top 10 at midpoint: Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Russell, Perez, Lance Stroll, Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen. Perez, Stroll and KMag had not yet pitted.
Further back, after being stuck for a few laps behind Logan Sargent, Tsunoda finally passed him, and Hulkenberg also gave the Williams driver a jump. The two were fighting over the position that would ultimately earn them the points.
Having lost positions to Hamilton, Red Bull finally forced Pérez to pit on lap 38, followed by Stroll and Magnussen, dropping the Mexican behind Ricciardo’s RB. He needed just a few corners to overtake the Australian and take the final points-scoring position. Pérez then made a short run past Hulkenberg and Tsunoda to move up to eighth place.
Verstappen returned to the lead and comfortably moved up P1, but Norris was under pressure from Leclerc, who moved into DRS on lap 45. For a moment at the first chicane, the Ferrari driver was two seconds behind Norris, losing time. This seemed to have robbed Leclerc of early pace and he was unable to close in on Norris.
Mercedes introduced Russell on lap 53, putting him on new soft tires and using a two-stop strategy. He emerged in sixth place behind Hamilton and ahead of Perez.
Meanwhile, Verstappen had been cautioned for breaching track limits, which could be a potential problem for the reigning world champion as Norris cornered Verstappen, reducing the gap to two seconds with five seconds remaining. Frustration evident, Verstappen complained about Tsunoda’s traffic.
But as Norris pushed hard, Verstappen picked up the pace and the Dutchman appeared to take control of victory. As the gap rose and fell, Norris reported that his tires were wearing out while Verstappen’s battery was not charging. He won by 0.7 seconds over the Brit. Ferrari’s Leclerc finished third.
Piastri finished fourth behind Sainz, Hamilton and Russell, with Perez, Stroll and Tsunoda taking points.
result
1 Max Verstappen
2 Lando Norris +0.725
3 Charles Leclerc +7.916
4 Oscar Piastri +14.132
5 Carlos Sainz +22.325
6 Lewis Hamilton +35.104
7 George Russell +47.154
8 Sergio Perez +54.776
9 Lance Stroll +79.556
10 Yuki Tsunoda +1 lap
11 Nico Hulkenberg +1 lap
12 Kevin Magnussen +1 lap
13 Daniel Ricciardo +1 lap
14 Esteban OCON +1 lap
15 Zhou Guanyu +1 lap
16 Pierre Gasly +1 lap
17 Logan Sargent +1 lap
18 Valtteri Bottas +1 lap
19 Fernando Alonso +1 lap
It didn’t end
Alex Albon Williams – Lap 54
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