Verstappen celebrates Red Bull milestone with victory in Italy

To celebrate Red Bull’s 400th Grand Prix start, Max Verstappen returned to the top step of the podium ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, ending the Australian’s winning streak in a dramatic Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix that underlined why the historic race belongs on the calendar.

With engines revving and anticipation surging in Imola, every driver on the grid locked their sights on the five lights as the Tifosi braced for battle at the first European race of the season — and what a first corner it was.

Despite initially losing out to the pole-sitter off the line, commitment through the first corner sequence allowed Max Verstappen to bravely steal the lead from Oscar Piastri, with the duo narrowly avoiding contact as they ran side-by-side into Tamburello.

Further back, the out-of-position Ferrari duo began clawing their way back up the order, with Charles Leclerc engaging in a battle with Pierre Gasly that ended with the Alpine driver taking a trip through the gravel, losing five positions in the process.

Leclerc continued on track, challenging the Aston Martin ahead before kickstarting the first round of pitstops — a call that proved virtuous for the #16 after the undercut ultimately saw him running ahead of Russell, who had retreated to the pitlane after Lando Norris got the better of him, Sainz, Alonso and Stroll following their respective stops.

On Lap 13, Piastri pitted from second on the road, rejoining ahead of the Ferrari after a slow 3.6-second stop for the hard compound tyre.

From there, the Australian’s charge began, with Yuki Tsunoda his first hurdle after being instructed to hold up Piastri for the sake of his race-leading teammate’s campaign. 

The reconstructed Red Bull was no match for Piastri’s prowess, with the McLaren driver disposing of Tsunoda with relative ease on Lap 18 before Bearman, Colapinto and Hulkenberg faced the same fate.

Approaching the rear of the ongoing battle between the crowd favourites of Hamilton and Antonelli, experience urged the Ferrari driver to relinquish his position to the quicker McLaren, with the hometown hero echoing that sentiment shortly after.

Piastri found himself running in P4 on Lap 28 — the same lap Norris opted to make his first stop, however, it proved to be one lap too early when a Virtual Safety Car neutralised the race just moments later.

Out of the blue, Esteban Ocon was instructed to pull over to the side of the circuit, prompting a VSC that allowed the likes of Albon, Hadjar, Antonelli and Hamilton to capitalise on the reduced pit loss, while Piastri made his second stop and rejoined behind the Williams driver. 

Over the next ten laps, the #81 worked to close the gap to Albon, finally coming within DRS range on Lap 40 and wasting no time as he demoted the Williams driver into the first braking zone, allowing him to focus on hunting down his teammate 13 seconds up the road. 

Giving the sea of red a bittersweet moment to cheer about, the Ferrari drivers were back on the charge after both swapping to fresh tyres during the VSC, however, the Italian rookie was their first target.

Having had the rear of this former challenger in his sights for almost the entirety of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Hamilton put his foot to the floor to dispose of Antonelli on Lap 35, sacrificing significant tyre life as he continued in attack mode to pick off Hadjar just moments later.

Leclerc followed suit, taking his time to dispose of the rookies before Ferrari settled into P5 and P6 for the time being.

The race was neutralised once again on Lap 46, however, this time due to a full Safety Car that broke the hearts of everyone in the crowd when the cause was revealed to be the stricken #12 Mercedes in the same place that Ocon was forced to retire. 

Antonelli’s misfortune played into two out of the top three drivers’ hands, with Piastri becoming the loser of the SC when a drastic tyre deficit left him extremely vulnerable as the race got back underway on Lap 54.

Verstappen charged into the distance after the Safety Car peeled back into the pitlane, securing the win from that moment forward and leaving the McLaren teammates to fight it out for the silver medal.

With 15-lap fresher tyres at his disposal, it was a matter of time before an inevitable overtake was forged by Norris, with the #4 coming within half a second of Piastri with five laps remaining before stealing second place from his teammate coming into Tamburello. 

Behind, the fight for fourth place was at an all-time high as Albon — putting on the drive of his life — tried to fend off the Scuderia in the dying stages of the Imola outing.

On Lap 60, Leclerc was as close to the rear of the Williams as ever, pressuring Albon into a bold attempt around the outside at Tamburello — but the move backfired, sending the #23 into the gravel and allowing Hamilton to slip through.

The seven-time world champion had the momentum to pass his teammate on the following lap, reigniting the battle between Leclerc and Albon before the Ferrari pit wall made the pre-emptive decision to hand P5 back to Williams as the steward deliberated the earlier incident. 

Venting his frustrations over team radio, Leclerc was forced to settle for sixth place as the chequered flag was waved, making up decent ground from his P11 start, however, still unsatisfied with the end result on home soil.

Crossing the line just over a second behind the #16 was the sole remaining Mercedes driver in Russell, who ultimately lost four positions across the 63-lap rollercoaster race.

Carlos Sainz also finished at a deficit to his starting position, however, he ended Sunday in P8 and celebrated the fact that Williams managed to take home a double points finish to kick off the European leg of the season.

The former RB teammates of Hadjar and Tsunoda rounded out the top ten, their composed drives and consistent pace earning well-deserved points after a demanding afternoon that proved Imola deserves its place on the F1 calendar.

With little time to rest, the paddock now shifts its focus to the glitz, grit, and history of the Monaco Grand Prix where precision is tested like nowhere else.

Free Practice 1 around the unforgiving streets of Monte Carlo will kick off at 21:30 AEST on Friday, May 23.

Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Results:

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