Verstappen and Piastri recall race-deciding move

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was effectively decided by one brave move by Max Verstappen on Oscar Piastri at Tamburello and the Aussie said he will learn from it.

The pair started on the front row and after being beaten by Piastri convincingly at Saudi Arabia and Miami, Verstappen was determined to hit back and produced something special.

Despite appearing to be third off the line also behind George Russell, Verstappen sent it into Tamburello around the outside and sailed past not only the Mercedes, but also the leading McLaren.

This ensured Verstappen had the inside line at the following right hander and he hit the lead and did not look back.

“The start itself wasn’t particularly great, but then I was still on the outside line—or basically the normal line—and I was like ‘well, I’m just going to try and send it around the outside’ and it worked really well,” he said.

“I was quite far back. At the time before braking, I was basically in P3, but, of course, I was on the normal braking line, but I still had to come from far. 

“As soon as I braked late and then came off the brakes, I felt like ‘okay, there might be a move on’ so I just carried the speed in and it basically was sticking.

“I think it’s a bit like I started to carry a bit more speed to the apex and then at one point, you have that kind of momentum swing then going into Turn 3.

“You have to be really precise, you know, to try and not go too far offline.

“But, yeah, luckily, the grip was alright there.”

Meanwhile for Piastri, enjoy he held onto second on the opening lap, strategy worked against him as he lost the place to teammate Lando Norris on fresher tyres.

Reflecting on Tamburello, the Aussie admitted he was caught slightly off guard.

“I just braked too early. I thought I had it pretty under control, and it was a good move from Max. I’ll learn for next time clearly,” Piastri said.

“But at that point, I wasn’t overly concerned to not be in the lead, but then our pace just wasn’t as strong as I expected. So that compounded that first corner.”

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