By Camille Lebez-Leroy
The Early Battle: Verstappen Takes Charge
Right from the start of the Imola Grand Prix, Max Verstappen took the lead and held on to it until the end. The Dutchman dived at Turn 2 on the opening lap to overtake pole-sitter Oscar Piastri.
Despite a good start, the Australian found himself behind Verstapoen and tried to catch him, but unfortunately he showed just how dominant he could be at the wheel of his RedBull.
Behind them, George Russell managed to hold on to third place while Verstappen took the lead and began to pull away.
The midfield, on the other hand, was anything but calm, as during a battle with Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly went wide, sending him out of the points zone and into 14th place.
As the saying goes, one man’s misfortune is another man’s gain, and this little setback for Gasly allowed Isack Hadjar to sneak into the points.
Finally, Lewis Hamilton and Antonella were battling it out for 12th position.
Strategy Calls and the VSC Twist
At around Lap 12, the pit lane became crowded as Russel, Leclerc, Gasly and Sainz made their first pit stop to put on hard tyres. This was a harbinger of a possible double-stop strategy.
Piastri also stopped some time later, but his pitstop was anything but perfect, which meant he lost a lot of time on Verstappen but also on his team-mate who was in ambush.
A Short History of Emilia Romagna
The first twist of the Grand Prix came at Lap 29, when Alpine ordered Esteban Ocon to stop the car due to a mechanical problem, which caused a Virtual Safety Car to appear. RedBull reacted immediately by bringing the reigning world champion into the pits, but he still managed to get out in front thanks to the lead he had built up earlier in the race.
As for Piastri, the bad pitstop wasn’t the only difficult moment of his race, as on his exit lap he found himself stuck in traffic and behind Alexander Albon who still hadn’t stopped.
Safety Car Reshuffles the Pack
The second twist in this Grand Prix came at Lap 46, when local hero Antonelli saw his car stopped on the circuit, this time prompting the appearance of a safety car.
This created a free pit stop for Verstappen and Norris, while Piastri had to stay on track on his hard tyres, which had already clocked up quite a few laps. When the green flag waved at Lap 54, Verstappen quickly took off, leaving the McLarens to battle it out amongst themselves. With fresher tyres, Norris was quickly able to pass his team-mate and secure second place on the podium.
A little further down the order, Hamilton managed to pass Leclerc for 4th place, while keeping an eye on Piastri during the final laps in the hope of passing him.
After a perfect race, Alex Albon dropped out of the top 5 due to a mistake when trying to overtake the Monegasque, which dropped him to 6th position.
Pierre Gasly’s Journey to Formula 1
Final Standings and Championship Recap
Verstappen took victory from Norris, who was 6 seconds behind, while Piastri rounded off the podium. Hamilton was unable to catch Piastri in the final laps but still managed to finish 4th, and all this while starting outside the points zone.
Despite going off the track without any major consequences, Albon still inherited 5th place after Leclerc was ordered to give back the position due to post-race investigations. Russell, for his part, finished seventh, a slightly frustrating result after a shaky strategy. He was closely followed by Sainz, Hadjar and Tsunoda who rounded off the top 10.
Thanks to his victory, Verstappen has proved that he is still in the running for the world championship, while the McLaren double intensifies the rivalry between the two Papaya team-mates.
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