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F1 Review: Max Verstappen Starts Fast, Closes Out McLarens In Dominating Win At Imola
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

F1 Review: Max Verstappen Starts Fast, Closes Out McLarens In Dominating Win At Imola

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Max Verstappen, starting second, boldly drove his Red Bull hard into Turn 1 at Imola, overtook pole-sitter Oscar Piastri with ease, and never looked back to win the AWS Made In Italy Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday (May 18th) in Red Bull’s historic 400th grand prix. 

The race might have been the last at the storied Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit, as Imola’s contract expires at the end of this year.

Lando Norris finished second, six seconds behind Verstappen, with Piastri taking third, as the McLarens couldn’t keep up with Verstappen’s pace, or the Dutchman’s benefits from a safety car and a virtual safety car. 

“The start itself wasn’t particularly great, but then I was still on the outside line, basically the normal line, and I was like, ‘Well, I’m just going to try and send it around the outside’,” said Verstappen. “It worked really well! That of course then unleased our pace, because once we were in the lead, the car was good. I could look after my tyres and we had very good pace today.

“Again, a massive improvement from Friday, and I’m very pleased for that. That VSC was quite handy to pit, and even then, even on the hard compound, I think our pace was very strong. Then of course there was the Safety Car, so the field was all back together. But even then on the restart, I think we managed it all really well and brought it home. I’m incredibly proud of everyone. It’s been a very important week for us, the car has performed really well, and also I think the whole execution of the whole race, when to pit, the pit stops themselves, were all very good.”

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton capped a brilliant drive with a fourth after starting 12th, ahead of Williams Racing’s Alex Albon, who surged on the final lap to take fifth over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who started 11th.

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

Mercedes’ George Russell took seventh, with Williams’ Carlos Sainz posting his best result of the season with an eighth. Racing Bull’s Isaak Hadjar was ninth, and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda recovered from a massive shunt in qualifying on Saturday (May 17th) to snatch 10th.   

In the driver standings, Piastri leads Norris 146 to 133, with Verstappen looming in third with 124 points, 25 ahead of Russell. 

In the constructor standings, McLaren is in a class by itself, with a huge 279 to 147 edge over Mercedes. Red Bull sits just 16 back of Mercedes with 131. 

The Race

Tension was in the air, as lights out brought the latest battle in the Piastri-Verstappen rivalry. Piastri got the jump at the start, but Verstappen outbraked the McLaren driver to dramatically seize the lead. Russell and Norris, starting third and fourth respectively, held their positions.

With nothing but clean air ahead of him, Verstappen distanced himself from Piastri by well over a second, and was 1.6 seconds ahead at lap 5, and early indications were that Verstappen’s Red Bull was, on this day, clearly superior.

On lap 7, the Ferrari radio brought words from a driver that shocked all listening: a compliment, of all things, when Leclerc said, “Tires are better than expected.” Leclerc was up two spots to ninth, but Hamilton lost a position at the start and ran 12th. 

Norris was hot on the tail of Russell and needed desperately to get by as Verstappen and Piastri were running away. Norris finally made the pass on lap 11, and had plenty of work to do, with Verstappen nearly eight seconds ahead.

Piastri pitted on lap 14, and a slow stop cost the McLaren in his pursuit of Verstappen. Even the chance of catching Verstappen was slipping away quickly from the championship points leader.

Piastri was up to seventh by lap 24, and was over 30 seconds behind Verstappen, so the McLaren still had a lot of time to make up if he wanted to put any pressure on his Red Bull rival. It was a difficult task for Piastri, made more difficult by traffic in front of him, while Verstappen ran ahead in free air.

Norris pitted for hard tires on lap 29 with a stop 1.5 seconds better than Piastri’s 15 laps earlier. Just as Norris emerged from the pits, a virtual safety car was issued for Esteban Ocon’s stalled car. While the timing of the VSC was horrible for Norris, it was a gift for Verstappen, and a pit stop under the VSC “virtually” guaranteed the win for the Dutchman. 

When green flag racing resumed, Verstappen enjoyed a 20-second cushion over Norris, with Piastri now in fourth after pitting for another set of hard tires. Alex Albon was in third and had the impossible task of holding off Piastri if he wanted to maintain his podium spot. 

Impossible it was, Albon’s third-place position was short-lived, as Piastri blew by him on lap 41. Up front, Verstappen was cruising and envisioning a much tighter championship battle once he crossed the finish line. 

Kimi Antonelli’s car stalled on lap 47, and a full safety car was eventually deployed. Verstappen again was the beneficiary of another discounted pit stop. Piastri stayed out, while Norris pitted, so Piastri’s hopes of passing Verstappen relied on a set of hard tires aged 20 laps, while the Red Bull sported a fresh set of rubber. Advantage: Verstappen, and Decision: McLaren. Would McLaren order Piastri to let Norris pursue Verstappen with Norris’ much better tire situation? Whatever decision Zach Brown made would likely not matter because there was no way Verstappen was relinquishing this lead.  

Green flag racing resumed on with nine laps remaining, and Verstappen left no doubt, pulling away with confidence. His lead was over two seconds two laps later. 

With the podium positions just about settled, fourth was up for grabs with Albon attempting to wrest fourth from Leclerc. Hamilton snagged sixth from Russell, and Ferrari’s race was turning out exponentially better than their qualifying effort.

Norris took second from Piastri with a pass on lap 58 in which the two McLarens almost touched, avoiding what would have been a monumentally disastrous outcome. 

Albon boldly attempted to pass Leclerc at Tamburello on lap 61, but had to take to the gravel to avoid contact with the Ferrari. That allowed Hamilton to clear Albon for fifth, and Hamilton seized fourth from his teammate a lap later. Leclerc’s defensive maneuver was under investigation, and he was subsequently told by his team to give the position back. 

Verstappen took the checkered flag with a six-second cushion over Norris, with Piastri six seconds behind his teammate.   

The Good

Verstappen’s brilliant Turn 1 move to snatch the lead from Piastri is the kind one would expect from a four-time world champion, especially in a battle with a no-time world champion. Verstappen outsmarted Piastri, and this time, Verstappen was the aggressor, as opposed to the start in Saudi Arabia (on April 20th), where Piastri’s aggression forced Verstappen into a mistake that allowed Piastri to take the lead.

Granted, Verstappen’s day was made easier by his luck during safety car and virtual safety car deployments, but the Red Bull kingpin won this race with skill first, and then won this race easily by virtue of luck. 

The Bad, Then Good

Ferrari’s race results were a far cry from their qualifying effort. Neither Lewis Hamilton nor Charles Leclerc were able to advance to Q3 in Saturday’s (May 17th) qualifying, disappointing a typically fevered Tifosi contingent, who luckily are very experienced in handling that emotion.

If both Ferraris advancing to Q3 was the equivalent of authentic Italian cuisine, then Hamilton and Leclerc collectively Olive Garden’d it in qualifying, with Leclerc 11th and Hamilton 12th.

I wouldn’t say the Ferrari duo “chef’s kissed” it on Sunday, but the pair cooked up a meal that Enzo and Dino Ferrari would have at the very least eaten, and at the very worst fired their chef. A fourth and sixth is plenty for Ferrari to cheer about, but this is Ferrari, at their home race, with seven-time world champion Hamilton now piloting one of the cars. So, anything less than a podium is still disappointing. 

If you asked the Tifosi to grade Ferrari’s performance at Imola, they would undoubtedly give it a “C” of red. 

The Bad

Piastri wasted an exceptional start off the line at lights out when he braked early heading into Turn 1, opening the door for Verstappen to capitalize. And Verstappen indeed capitalized, taking the lead and running off into the distance, leaving Piastri to ponder his lack of aggression, as well as a number of subpar pit stops, after the race. 

Piastri surely regretted his decision to brake early, and it was undoubtedly a stupid decision. Did he expect a driver who’s always aggressive would suddenly opt not to be aggressive? Piastri didn’t just open the door for Verstappen; he removed the door altogether and escorted him through it.

Enough with drivers complaining how unlucky they are finding themselves on the wrong side of a safety car period. I’m talking to you, Charles Leclerc, and especially you, Fernando Alonso. Come on, Fernando, I’m sure you’ve benefited often from safety cars in your long, over two-decades F1 career. I can think of one in particular: you remember, the year was 2008, the place was Singapore, where there was a “crash” that led to a safety car. Still having trouble remembering? Funny, that’s what you told FIA investigators any time they asked you about the situation.

Franco Colapinto’s performance for Alpine at Imola surely had people talking. For example, Jack Doohan was probably saying “I could have done that.” Or, Flavio Briatore was likely saying, “I didn’t sabotage Doohan’s time at Alpine for this.”

Colapinto suffered a shocking crash in Q1 on Saturday (May 17th), shocking because it was one not ordered by Briatore. And then on Sunday (May 18th), Colapinto finished 16th, which Doohan bettered in three of six races with Alpine. Briatore has a huge catalogue of questionable decisions; what’s another one in the scheme of things?

Maybe it’s time for McLaren’s Zach Brown to man up and make a definitive team order decision. The late stages at Imola would have been a perfect time, when Norris, on fresh tires, was in third behind Piastri, on old tires, with Verstappen prepared to dash after a safety car period. It would have made sense for Brown to strongly order Piastri to let Norris through, so Norris could have at least attempted to catch Verstappen (to be clear, Norris would not have caught Verstappen). But Brown took the easy way out, saying nothing, knowing, in his mind, that McLaren would finish 2-3 no matter what.

But Brown probably soiled his underpants when, with five laps left, Norris and Piastri almost touched as Norris slipped by his teammate to take second. Who’s more stubborn in a case like this? Brown, for refusing to make a decision, or Piastri, for being the hardheaded driver in the slower McLaren car (and yes, Norris has also at other times played the role of hardheaded driver in the slower McLaren car, and acted just as stubbornly as Piastri did at Imola).

Disaster was avoided, but the potential for disaster could have been more easily avoided. As a team principal, you’re tasked with managing drivers and their egos, and unless you can manage both effectively, you’re not maximizing the potential of your team.

Grid Walk Moments

With Martin Brundle off, Ted Kravitz and Bernie Collins assumed the “Grid Walk” duties, and what we got was an informative crash course on the innovative McLaren brake system and F1 aerodynamics from Collins, and a look at the best calves in F1 courtesy of Kravitz.

While not as adept as Brundle at the skill, Kravitz was still able to track down a few big names on the grid. Kravitz tried to chat with seven-time MotoGP world champion and Italian legend Valentino Rossi, who still displayed the impressive speed one would expect of such an esteemed racer, albeit this time by practically running away from Kravitz.

Then, Brazilian football legend Ronaldo stopped to briefly chat with Kravitz. Brazil is a long way from Italy, but obviously not as far as Ronaldo is from his playing weight. 

Random Fashion Commentary

Was Sky Sports pundit Jacques Villeneuve dressed for the job he has, or was he dressed for the job he wants? All indications are that the job he wants is lead vocalist for Pearl Jam circa 1991 in Seattle. I believe Jacques was the only person at Imola wearing a flannel shirt. Did Jacques roll up to the grid on a skateboard? Is every race day “Casual Friday” for Villeneuve?     

The Driver

Verstappen ran away with the race and the vote for “Driver Of The Day.” If his selection as “Driver” wasn’t unanimous, then I would go so far as to claim the election was rigged. 

It was a perfect day for Verstappen. He aced the start, dominated the entirety of the race, and was challenged only once, by a late Safety Car, which bunched up the field after Verstappen had built an insurmountable lead. On days like this, Verstappen makes it look so easy, and also makes it look like Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has the easiest job in F1, because he had absolutely no decisions to make at Imola, except to decide whether to take some veiled criticisms of Zach Brown and McLaren afterwards.

The Results (AWS Made In Italy Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari)

PosNoDriverCarLapsTime/retiredPts
11Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Honda RBPT631:31:33.19925
24Lando NorrisMcLaren Mercedes63+6.109s18
381Oscar PiastriMcLaren Mercedes63+12.956s15
444Lewis HamiltonFerrari63+14.356s12
523Alexander AlbonWilliams Mercedes63+17.945s10
616Charles LeclercFerrari63+20.774s8
763George RussellMercedes63+22.034s6
855Carlos SainzWilliams Mercedes63+22.898s4
96Isack HadjarRacing Bulls Honda RBPT63+23.586s2
1022Yuki TsunodaRed Bull Racing Honda RBPT63+26.446s1
1114Fernando AlonsoAston Martin Aramco Mercedes63+27.250s0
1227Nico HulkenbergKick Sauber Ferrari63+30.296s0
1310Pierre GaslyAlpine Renault63+31.424s0
1430Liam LawsonRacing Bulls Honda RBPT63+32.511s0
1518Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco Mercedes63+32.993s0
1643Franco ColapintoAlpine Renault63+33.411s0
1787Oliver BearmanHaas Ferrari63+33.808s0
185Gabriel BortoletoKick Sauber Ferrari63+38.572s0
NC12Kimi AntonelliMercedes44DNF0
NC31Esteban OconHaas Ferrari27DNF0
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