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

Max Verstappen held off a late charge from Lando Norris in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to return to the winner’s circle in the 2024 season.

Despite a challenging qualifying session, Verstappen seemed in control of the race once it started, pulling out of DRS range after the first two laps and building a lead of over 7 seconds at one point. However, after switching to hard tires, particularly towards the end, the Dutchman’s rubber began to degrade rapidly, while Norris, with fresher rubber, closed in and threatened to overtake.

Moreover, Verstappen, who had twice run wide earlier in the race, was at risk of a penalty for a third infringement. Norris, who secured his maiden Grand Prix victory in Miami, reduced the gap to just 1.1 seconds with three laps remaining. But he fell short of the one-second margin required 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 by 48 points.

On Ferrari’s home turf, Charles Leclerc finished third but was unable to mount a genuine challenge to the front-row starters, becoming 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 at the notoriously difficult-to-overtake Imola circuit, as he couldn’t find a way past Carlos Sainz, who started fourth.

Through an early pit stop strategy, Piastri managed to pass Sainz but couldn’t catch up to Leclerc, settling for fourth place. Sainz finished fifth.

Mercedes recorded their best result of the season so far, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell securing sixth and seventh positions. Hamilton briefly ventured into the gravel trap but continued unscathed. Late in the race, when most cars adopted a one-stop strategy, Mercedes pitted Russell again. The young Briton asked if he could rejoin ahead of his teammate, but the team denied his request. However, with fresher tires, he set the fastest lap of the race and claimed an additional point.

After the race, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff explained that they rejected Russell’s request because he would inevitably be overtaken by Hamilton based on pre-pitstop speeds, given his tires were degrading more than expected, and there was a risk of falling behind Sergio Perez.

Perez had a challenging weekend, failing to qualify for Q3 while Verstappen secured pole position on Saturday. He ultimately finished eighth after Mercedes’ strategy move.

Lance Stroll, using medium tires for an extended first stint, benefited from having 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 claimed the final point for Red Bull on home soil, bringing his season tally to 15 points and maintaining his position in the top ten of the Drivers’ Championship.

The two Haas drivers finished 11th and 12th, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, another Red Bull driver, and Esteban Ocon of Alpine.

Zhou Guanyu, starting from 17th, employed an alternative strategy, beginning the race on hard tires and finishing 17th. In the closing stages, he was squeezed in a battle with Ocon, nearly going off the track. However, the stewards took no action after reviewing the incident.

Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant, Valtteri Bottas, and Fernando Alonso completed the bottom four. Alonso, starting from the pit lane due to Aston Martin’s setup changes, raced on soft tires. With no early incidents requiring a safety car, the team effectively used the entire race as a test session.

Alexander Albon was the only retirement. The Thai driver’s race ended prematurely when his right-front wheel wasn’t properly attached during a pit stop. Despite completing a slow lap to ensure the loose wheel didn’t come off before returning to the pits for a re-fix, he still received a 10-second time penalty. Williams retired him from the race in the 48th lap.

Notably, before the race, Verstappen’s Team Redline esports outfit triumphed in the virtual Nürburgring 24-hour race. Although the Dutchman was not involved for much of the event, he spent a few hours on his professional simulator, which he had brought to Imola after securing pole position in the real world on Saturday.