Max Verstappen Beats McLaren Duo To Win Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Reaching Career Milestone of 400th F1 Race

 

Max Verstappen wins in Imola on his career milestone of 400th F1 race 

Max Verstappen launched an impressive start on the grid and clinched the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix victory, outpacing the McLaren duo, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who finished third and second, respectively. 

The Red Bull driver seized the first turn for a game-changing move, forced Piastri to the side to gain a sizable position in the inside lane, and sped by ahead. Hence, he led on through the laps to clinch the victory in Imola for the fourth consecutive time on his 400th F1 race. 

Lewis Hamilton had an impressive race, improving from behind to finish fourth, and his teammate, Charles Leclerc, finished sixth behind Williams' Alex Albon in fifth. It will be the Williams driver's third top-five finish of the season.  

Unlike the qualifying session, George Russell had a difficult race. Starting in P3, he could have launched earlier than Verstappen and blocked from gaining the inside lane for a takeover, but experience gave the Red Bull driver the advantage over his peers. Eventually, George finished in seventh ahead of Williams' Carlos Sainz. 

Grid Start and Position Gains

It was almost a hinge-free situation, getting off the grid for the driver. The weather conditions were favorable, with a dry surface. Verstappen nearly collided with Piastri while he attempted to move ahead, and neatly avoided a crash. 

Verstappen gained a leap from P2 to provisional pole, and the pole-setter, Piastri, dropped behind to P2. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton improved one place to move up to P12. The former champion had a disappointing session on Saturday as he failed to qualify for Q3 at the qualifying session. 

Pitting and Safety Car

McLaren's pitting strategy for hard tyres while Verstappen did for medium tyres did not go as planned, and Piastri lost position, dropping to P12. That left Norris in front in P2 to battle on for the pole. He later improved to P5, gaining DRS on  Kimi Antonelli on Lap 27. 

Verstappen later seized the virtual safety car from Estaban Ocon's retirement midway through the race, to pit for hard tyres. Being on hard tyres went well for Piastri. He recovered the positions he had lost by lap 40, gaining DRS on Williams' Alex Albon and moving up to third behind Norris. Kimi Antonelli later retired, and a full safety car was deployed, which did not make any difference to the leading cars.