Max Verstappen showcased his brilliance once again as he took victory in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, just edging ahead of Lando Norris. After leading the whole race, Norris began catching Verstappen in the last 15 laps, but small errors just gave the Red Bull the breathing space for victory.
Charles Leclerc completed the podium in 3rd place. This recorded Ferrari’s first podium in Imola since Michael Schumacher took victory in 2006.
Under a sun-kissed Imola, the race got underway with pole sitter Verstappen retaining the lead despite Norris getting the stronger getaway. Verstappen went on to build his lead to 6.2 seconds by the round of pitstops. The two Ferraris slotted behind looking to pounce on a mistake.
However, it wasn’t plain sailing for the reigning world champion as he made his life quite difficult exceeding track limits to the point of a black and white flag. One more warning and the FIA would award him with a three-place grid penalty.
Increased tyre degradation meant that the pitstop phase became crucial for the complexion of the race. Norris pitted on lap 22 and Verstappen followed through two laps later.
Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri proved that the undercut was the preferred strategy as he jumped the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz after chasing the Spaniard for the majority of the opening stint.
Ferrari introduced new upgrades for this weekend and Leclerc sliced into the 3-second margin held by Norris for P2. By lap 43, he was in DRS of the Brit who complained about a lack of pace on the hard tyre. However, a mistake at the Variante Alta sapped his momentum and eventually dropped back.
By the final stint, Verstappen had a 5.6-second lead thanks to Norris’ earlier pitstop. Despite having a two-lap tyre advantage, Norris transformed his pace on the hards and began to eat into Verstappen’s lead.
The final 5 laps were filled with tension as Verstappen struggled to generate temperature into his hard tyres. Norris lapping 8 tenths quicker by the closing stage and even threw in some wild saves at the Villeneuve chicane.
However, it was not quite enough as Verstappen beat Norris to the line by 7 tenths of a second to take his third victory in Imola. A slow burner of a race had a thrilling conclusion but Norris was so close to a second career victory.
The 3-time champion now takes his win tally to 59 victories only one win away from reaching a 60th victory. He also equals Michael Schumacher’s record of three consecutive victories at Imola. Despite Red Bull struggling at the start of the weekend, Verstappen has only shown why he is the man to beat.
Image Credit: Deposit Photos
