Emilia Romagna Grand Prix: Verstappen withstands Norris push to return to winning ways

Max Verstappen held off a late charge from Lando Norris to secure victory at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and get back on the winning path in the 2024 season.

Despite a challenging qualifying session, Verstappen appeared to have the race under control from the start, pulling away from the field after the first two laps and building a lead of over seven seconds at one point. However, after switching to hard tires, especially towards the end, the Dutchman’s rubber began to degrade rapidly, while Norris, with a more favorable tire strategy, closed in and threatened to overtake.

Moreover, with two track-limit violations early in the race, Verstappen was at risk of a penalty if he transgressed again. Norris, who claimed his maiden win in Miami, reduced the gap to just 1.1 seconds with three laps remaining, but failed to get within the required one-second margin to activate DRS on the penultimate lap. This allowed Verstappen to cross the finish line 0.725 seconds ahead, extending his lead in the drivers’ championship to 48 points.

At their home circuit, Charles Leclerc finished third, unable to truly challenge the front-row starters, but became the first Ferrari driver to step onto the Imola podium since Michael Schumacher in 2006.

Oscar Piastri, who qualified second, started three places back due to a grid penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen in Q1. The penalty significantly impacted him in the overtaking-challenging Imola, as he was unable to make progress against Carlos Sainz, who started fourth.

Although Piastri managed to pass Sainz through an early pit stop, he couldn’t catch Leclerc and settled for fourth place. Sainz finished fifth.

Mercedes recorded their best result of the season so far, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finishing sixth and seventh. Hamilton had a momentary scare when he ran wide into the gravel, but recovered without significant damage. Late in the race, with most cars on a one-stop strategy, Mercedes pitted Russell again, who then asked if he could regain his position ahead of his teammate, but was denied. Despite this, he set the fastest lap of the race on fresher tires, earning an additional point.

After the race, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff explained that they rejected Russell’s request because, based on pre-stop speeds, he would inevitably be caught by Hamilton, whose tire degradation exceeded expectations, and there was a chance he could fall behind Sergio Perez, hence the decision to change his tires as a precaution.

Perez had a difficult weekend, failing to qualify for Q3 on Saturday while Verstappen secured pole position, starting eleventh. Following Mercedes’ strategic move, he ultimately finished eighth.

Lance Stroll, using mediums for an extended first stint, took advantage of fresher hard tires in the second phase to overtake Nico Hulkenberg of Haas and Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull, securing ninth place for Aston Martin.

Tsunoda helped Red Bull score a point at their home circuit, bringing his season total to 15, maintaining his position in the top ten of the drivers’ standings.

The two Haas drivers completed the race in eleventh and twelfth, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the other Red Bull and Esteban Ocon of Alpine.

Zhou Guanyu, starting from 17th, adopted an alternative strategy, starting on hard tires and finished 17th. In the closing stages, he was squeezed in a battle with Ocon, nearly going off the track. However, the stewards did not take any action following a review.

Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant, Valtteri Bottas, and Fernando Alonso rounded out the bottom four. Alonso, having started from the pit lane due to setup changes on his Aston Martin, used soft tires and effectively treated the entire race as a test session, given no early incidents necessitated a safety car.

Alexander Albon was the only retiree, as his right-front wheel wasn’t properly attached during a pit stop, ending his race prematurely. Despite completing a full lap at a slow pace to ensure the loose wheel didn’t come off before returning to the pits for a re-fit, the Thai driver still received a 10-second time penalty. Williams eventually retired him in the 48th lap.

Of note, before the race, Verstappen’s Team Redline esports squad won the virtual Nürburgring 24 Hours. Although the Dutchman was not actively involved for much of the event, he spent a few hours on his professional simulator in Imola after securing pole position in the real world on Saturday.