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Max Verstappen Wins the Imola GP in a Surprisingly Strong Red Bull
(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Max Verstappen Wins the Imola GP in a Surprisingly Strong Red Bull

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Max Verstappen took an early lead from polesitter Oscar Piastri and went on to win the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola on Sunday (May 18). Following an ill-advised two-stop strategy for Piastri, who finished in third, Lando Norris took second place.

“The start wasn’t particularly great, but I just sent it around the outside, and it worked really well,” Verstappen said in the post-race interview. “We had really good pace on it today. I’m incredibly proud of everyone. It’s been a really important week for us.”

Lewis Hamilton showed strong pace to take fourth for Ferrari, followed by a determined Alex Albon, who only passed the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc with one lap to go. George Russell finished seventh, with Carlos Sainz Jr., Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top 10.

How It Unfolded

Piastri lined up in pole position, with Verstappen joining the championship leader on the front row. Russell was in third and the second McLaren of Norris in fourth.

Piastri got the better launch, but a late braking move from Verstappen through the first two corners gave the Red Bull the lead.

Verstappen immediately pushed hard, aware that the McLarens are kinder to their tires. However, by lap nine, the gap between Verstappen and Piastri was still only 1.7 seconds.

Behind them, Russell held third position, but was being pressured by Norris, who was also on a charge.

Two laps later, Norris claimed his mark, passing Russell into the Villeneuve chicane. In signs of a two-stop race, for Mercedes at least, Russell immediately pitted for new hard tires.

Piastri pitted from second place on lap 13, while Verstappen and Norris stayed on track, creating an intriguing battle of tire strategies. By lap 19, Piastri was picking his way through the field, with the two frontrunners of Verstappen and Norris yet to pit.

Norris was being told to preserve his tires to “run long,” indicating a one-stop was on the cards for the second McLaren, and it looked like the same for Verstappen. Working his way through the field, Piastri was using precious tire life, making it increasingly apparent that the two-stop strategy his team had put him on was a big mistake.

Norris stopped on lap 29, and was just exiting the pits as a yellow flag was waved for a motionless Haas of Esteban Ocon. That was quickly upgraded to a virtual safety car, which gave Verstappen the benefit of a pit stop under safety car conditions, said to gain a driver around 10 seconds on this track.

Piatsri also stopped under safety car conditions, his second of the race, putting him behind Verstappen, Norris and a strong-running Williams of Albon. McLaren’s strategy had clearly failed Piastri today.

Hamilton, one of the few cars to start on the hardest tire compound, also benefited from the safety car and was running in P5 by lap 39.

At the front, Verstappen’s Red Bull was looking much more poised than in recent times, perhaps due to the upgrades introduced this weekend. The McLarens of Norris and Piastri were just keeping pace, but were unable to close the gap.

On lap 46, Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes came to a halt at the side of the track due to a mechanical failure, and another safety car was called. Verstappen immediately stopped, and Norris followed. Piastri stayed out, allowing him to jump Norris for second place.

McLaren was now faced with a dilemma: Piastri was in second place on much older tires than Norris, in third. Do they issue a team order to give Norris second place, and a chance to challenge Verstappen for the win?

Verstappen wasn’t troubled at the restart, building a gap of more than two seconds within the first two laps. All eyes turned to the McLarens, Norris closing within DRS range of Piastri due to his much fresher tires, and passing on lap 58.

In what was a much-needed performance for Red Bull, Verstappen finished the race over six seconds ahead of Norris, followed by Piastri, Hamilton, Albon, Leclerc and Russell.

With next week’s Monaco GP being the last race where flexi-wings are permitted, there’s now talk that Red Bull could be back in the fight. The Spanish GP, in two weeks, will be the first where flexi-wings are ruled out.

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Peter Molloy began following Formula 1 during the 1985 Australian Grand Prix. He cheered for a certain Ayrton Senna, who was driving the same black and gold colors as a toy F1 car that Pete had been given. Pete continued to be a fan of Senna throughout his childhood. Fast forward many moons, and Peter now combines significant journalistic experience with decades of watching F1 to cover the latest on-track and off-track action.