at the end of the suspense, Max Verstappen wins the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc

The race only really started with five laps remaining. Max Verstappen led the proceedings at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, in Imola, Italy, on Sunday May 19. The Dutchman won with less than a second ahead of his runner-up of the day, Lando Norris (McLaren), winner of his first Grand Prix in Miami two weeks ago. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) finished third, relegated more than seven seconds behind second. The Red Bull had a lead of up to eight seconds over its opponents, but the McLaren proved it could be a serious opponent.

Lando Norris at least managed to give the audience a little thrill. The Briton put Max Verstappen under pressure in the last five laps, grabbing tenths of a second after tenths of a second, falling just a few hundredths from first place. The Dutchman fought against his tires, but also against his discharged battery. “In the last ten laps I was going all out and I saw Lando getting closer, I couldn’t afford to make too many mistakes“, he detailed upon arrival.

“It pains me to say it, but one or two more rounds, I would have had itregretted Norris. I lost too much ground compared to Max at the start.“There is still something to be positive about at McLaren.”We can now confirm it: we are now in the fight for the top places with Red Bull and Ferrari!” Rarely, this season, the world championship leaderseemed as much in difficulty, as evidenced by its complaints to its engineers. But in the end, the Dutchman won, thus signing his fifth victory of the season.