Max Verstappen (Red Bull-Honda) won the Emilia-Romagna GP at Imola, celebrating his fifth success in seven races. The Dutchman beat the Englishman Lando Norris (McLaren-Mercedes) and the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).
Starting from pole position for the seventh time in as many Grands Prix, Verstappen was not really worried during this long soporific event to sign the 59th victory of his career in Formula 1. He thus took a new step towards a fourth consecutive world title which already seems to be reaching out to him.
Behind, Norris, recent winner in Miami, secured another podium. He closed in on Verstappen in the final laps, but fell short by less than a second without being able to make an attack. The podium was completed at 7”916 by the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), who failed to offer a victory to the fans who came en masse to the edge of the circuit which had been fatal to Ayrton Senna on May 1, 1994.
Super happy
“I had to push hard the whole race. At the end, with the hard tires, it was difficult, I didn’t have much grip in the last 10-15 laps. I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, luckily I didn’t make any. I’m super happy to win here“, declared the winner.
“With one or two more laps I might have been able to pass it“, lamented Norris. “He was faster on the first stint, and then we were on the second. We are now in a position to fight with the Red Bulls and the Ferraris“, said the Briton.
A podium for Ferrari
In the championship, Verstappen totals 161 points. He is 48 ahead of Leclerc before the next race, scheduled for Sunday in Monaco. Australian Oscar Piastri confirmed the McLaren’s good form by taking fourth place ahead of the Ferrari of Spaniard Carlos Sainz. The Mercedes of Britons Lewis Hamilton and George Russell come next.
Once again, the Swiss Sauber team played no prominent role in this race. The Chinese Guanyu Zhou took 15th place and the Finn Valterri Bottas 18th. Both conceded a lap to the winner.
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