Home SPORTS Red Bull's Max Verstappen Takes Victory at Imola Circuit

Red Bull's Max Verstappen Takes Victory at Imola Circuit

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen dominates the Emilia Romagna GP, extending his championship lead with a convincing win over McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.



The 27-year-old Dutchman came home 6.1 seconds clear of Lando Norris, who was second, ahead of McLaren team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri.




Like Verstappen, Ferrari's seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton profited from two safety car interventions to finish fourth, after starting 12th on the grid, ahead of Williams' Alex Albon and Charles Leclerc, in the second Ferrari.




Max Verstappen's competitors, including Lewis Hamilton, benefited from two safety car periods. Hamilton, starting 12th, recovered to finish fourth for Ferrari. He was followed by Alex Albon in the Williams and Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari.


George Russell secured seventh place for Mercedes, ahead of Carlos Sainz in the second Williams. RB's rookie driver Isack Hadjar finished ninth, while Yuki Tsunoda impressed with a 10th-place finish in the second Red Bull, rebounding from a high-speed qualifying crash.


Max Verstappen secured his second win of the year and the 65th of his career, achieving this milestone in Red Bull's 400th Grand Prix. The victory propelled him to 124 points, placing him third in the drivers' championship behind Oscar Piastri (146 points) and Lando Norris (133 points).


“It was a great weekend,” Verstappen said, praising his team's efforts. “Thank you everyone for a great job today and on Saturday.” His performance demonstrated that he and Red Bull remain strong contenders for the title.


Oscar Piastri reflected on his race, admitting he lost ground at the start. “I braked too early,” he said. He praised Max Verstappen's opening move but acknowledged that strategic decisions didn't go their way. “It was a great move by Max and then we had a few wrong calls, so it wasn't one of our best Sundays.”


 Verstappen and Red Bull were the stronger team that weekend. “Congratulations to Max,” he said. “We couldn't match him this weekend.” Norris acknowledged the gap between McLaren and Red Bull, highlighting Verstappen's dominance.


The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix started in warm sunshine, with most drivers on medium tires, except for a few who opted for hard tires. Oscar Piastri led initially, but Max Verstappen quickly took advantage of an opportunity to pass him at Tamburello. With a bold and decisive move, Verstappen took the lead, drawing a roar from the large crowd of 240,000 spectators, a record attendance for Imola.


Yuki Tsunoda, who had a major crash on Saturday, started from the pit lane in his rebuilt Red Bull and seemed to be aiming for a one-stop strategy. Meanwhile, home favorite Kimi Antonelli passed Lewis Hamilton on the first lap, dropping the Ferrari-powered Mercedes driver to 12th place.


Lando Norris made a move on lap 11, passing George Russell to take third place and began chasing the leaders.


George Russell and Charles Leclerc made their pit stops on lap 12, switching to hard tires. Leclerc dropped to 13th place after the stop. Oscar Piastri pitted two laps later and rejoined in front of Leclerc but found himself stuck behind a group of cars.


Meanwhile, Max Verstappen led comfortably, holding a 10-second gap over Lando Norris by lap 20. The Red Bull driver cruised at a steady pace, maintaining his advantage.


By lap 25, Oscar Piastri had moved up to sixth place after being held up by Yuki Tsunoda earlier in the race. Team orders had allowed Tsunoda to pass, and Piastri took advantage. He then passed Kimi Antonelli for fifth place two laps later and quickly followed up with another pass on Isack Hadjar to move into fourth.


A brief virtual safety car period was triggered when Esteban Ocon's Haas broke down on the inside of the Tosa corner. This allowed Max Verstappen to make a pit stop without losing much time, which suited the leader perfectly. However, Charles Leclerc was frustrated by the timing and expressed his displeasure over the team radio.




After the virtual safety car period, Max Verstappen led the race ahead of Lando Norris, with Alex Albon in third and Oscar Piastri fourth. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, made his way up the field with impressive moves, passing Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar at Tamburello to claim fifth place.


Despite Hamilton's charge, Verstappen remained in control, holding an 18-second lead over Norris and Piastri, who were closely battling for second place.


The race took another turn on lap 46 when Kimi Antonelli pulled over at Tosa, triggering a full safety car period. “I've got an issue,” he reported to his team. Max Verstappen once again benefited from the timing, making a second 'free' pit stop, followed by Lando Norris.


Meanwhile, Ferrari opted to keep Charles Leclerc out on track, citing a lack of spare tires. Lewis Hamilton took the opportunity to switch to hard tires, setting up a thrilling nine-lap sprint to the finish from seventh place in the reshuffled order.


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