Dutchman Max Verstappen led a Red Bull dominance over Ferraris at the Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix held at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari Autodrome, Imola on Sunday, much to the dismay of Tifosi’s sea in the stands.
Reigning world champion Verstappen led the race from start to finish, set the fastest lap and took his second win of the season.
He also combined with teammate Sergio Perez to complete Red Bull’s first double since the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2016.
“Nice Sunday,” Verstappen called out on team radio after what turned out to be a gloomy, cloudy and drizzly day.
Verstappen had also won the qualifying sprint, held on Saturday, and he therefore amassed the maximum points available over the weekend.
“It’s always difficult to achieve something like that,” Verstappen said of the perfect weekend.
“We were prepared. You never know with the weather how competitive you are going to be. But I think as a team we did everything well and this double is well deserved. »
Lando Norris, on McLaren, was third.
Quebecer Lance Stroll, on Aston Martin, finished in 10and place after taking the start of the 15and position, and he earned his first point of the young season. His teammate Sebastian Vettel finished eighth.
“It’s been a positive weekend for the team and it’s great to see both cars in the points. It was a well deserved point for us today because the pressure was intense throughout the race, not to mention the changing weather conditions,” remarked Stroll.
“Everyone was struggling with overheated tires and a drying track, but we were able to keep (Lewis) Hamilton behind and put pressure on (Yuki) Tsunoda up front. Once we moved into the intermediate tires we continued to put in a good pace and were able to break away from the group of cars behind us,” added Stroll.
In addition, the Torontonian Nicholas Latifi, on Williams, completed the race at 16and rank.
For the Ferrari drivers, who were racing on the lands of the famous team and who hope to make a return to the higher echelons of the sport, it was a disastrous race.
Charles Leclerc came to the start line at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings after winning two of the first three races, while Carlos Sainz Jr. celebrated a two-year contract extension this weekend in Italy .
However, Leclerc failed to surprise Verstappen at the start of the event and was never in the fight. As for Sainz, he left the track on the opening lap, which ruined his race.
Finally, Leclerc’s attempt to save the day for Ferrari came to an end when he, in turn, ran off the track as he was battling with Perez for second place. He finally settled for sixth position in the final standings.
Leclerc held a 46-point lead over Verstappen in the drivers’ championship heading into Sunday’s event, but it is now down to just 27 points.
“I was too ambitious. I paid the price and lost seven potential points,” admitted Leclerc in an interview with Sky Sports.
“It’s unfortunate, it’s seven points that will certainly be useful at the end of the championship, and it’s something that must not happen again. »
At the start of Saturday’s qualifying sprint, Leclerc had managed to pass Verstappen, but once race day arrived Verstappen got off to a good start. For his part, Leclerc was overtaken by Perez and Norris.
Leclerc later managed to move up to third position and was chasing the Red Bulls when he went off track.
It had rained heavily in the morning but the precipitation had ended by the time the race got underway, and although the track was still wet, it dried out quickly, forcing the riders to change tires because of the new driving conditions.
The race was also marked by a spectacular and late battle between George Russell, the newcomer to Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas, the one he replaced. The two riders fought for fourth place until the last lap, and it was Russell who came out on top.
For his part, Lewis Hamilton had another laborious race and he had to settle for 13and square.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has apologized to Hamilton on team radio for giving him an ‘undriveable’ car in Italy.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton lost the title to Verstappen last year in the very last race of the season in one of the most thrilling duels in decades in Formula 1.
On Sunday, Hamilton found himself a lap behind Verstappen when the Dutchman passed him at 39and round.