Verstappen holds off thrilling late charge from Norris to win Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
Max Verstappen has returned to winning ways after missing out in Miami by taking victory in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with the Dutchman holding off an exciting late charge from Lando Norris.
After Verstappen built up a solid lead in the early stages following a good launch from pole position, the Red Bull star enjoyed a mostly serene drive around the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, until Norris’s McLaren began to close the gap from P2 as the race reached its latter stages.
A thrilling end to the event ensued as Norris continued to cut into Verstappen’s advantage, but a snap of oversteer seemed to take further life out of the McLaren driver’s ageing tyres, allowing the Red Bull to hold onto P1 by just 0.725s as the chequered flag was waved.
Despite looking to be on Norris’s tail in the fight for P2 earlier in the event, Charles Leclerc had to settle for the final podium position of third in front of Ferrari’s home fans, while Oscar Piastri claimed P4 in a solid drive for McLaren.
Carlos Sainz added to Ferrari’s points tally by claiming fifth place, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in a lonely sixth for Mercedes followed by his team mate George Russell in seventh, who had made a surprise late pit stop for medium tyres allowing him to claim the extra point for fastest lap.
Sergio Perez salvaged P8 for Red Bull after a difficult qualifying saw him start the race in P11, with Lance Stroll taking Aston Martin’s only points in ninth. Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top-10 after a racy drive in the RB.
The Haas pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen followed in 11th and 12th respectively, despite the former running in the top 10 earlier on and the latter engaging in a few battles to work his way through the field.
RB’s Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line in P13, dropping back from P9 on the grid, with the lead Alpine of Esteban Ocon following in P14 ahead of Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu in P15.
Pierre Gasly ended the day in 16th place for Alpine, having been one of just two drivers to start the race on the soft tyre. Williams’ Logan Sargeant was just behind in 17th, while Valtteri Bottas rounded out the finishers in 18th place.
Fernando Alonso had spent much of the afternoon running near the rear of the pack in what has been a challenging weekend for the Spaniard. He retired his Aston Martin in the latter stages, classifying him in P19.
The only other retiree was Alex Albon, who was forced to retire his Williams earlier in the Grand Prix.
