Imola: Verstappen drags himself over the line in front of Norris

30 years after the death of the Brazilian legend, the Red Bull world champion celebrated his hat-trick of victory at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, but dragged himself to the finish line with tire problems and only 0,725 seconds ahead. Verstappen barely relegated Miami surprise winner Lando Norris to second place in the McLaren and raced to his fifth win of the season.

To the delight of the Tifosi, Charles Leclerc made it onto the podium in third place at Ferrari's home race on Sunday. In the Haas, Nico Hülkenberg narrowly missed out on the points in his Imola debut in eleventh place. “That was a really strong drive,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, praising his star Verstappen.

When the red lights went out, Hülkenberg got off to a strong start. He moved up two places from tenth place. The start is one of the few opportunities to make up ground in Imola. “After Monaco, this is the most difficult circuit on the calendar to overtake,” said Fernando Alonso, who had to roll out of the pit lane in his Aston Martin after an accident in qualifying.

At the beginning the Dutchman had everything under control. © APA/afp / LUCA BRUNO

At the front, Verstappen completed consistent lap times, almost like a metronome. After around a quarter of the 63 laps, the Dutchman was already five seconds ahead of Lando Norris, who in turn had the two Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz breathing down his neck.

Red Bull fends off the McLaren attack McLaren then went on the offensive and brought Norris into the pits early on lap 23. But the move didn't work. The Englishman returned to the track in seventh place with fresh tires, directly behind Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. Two laps later, Verstappen got new tires. In fourth place, ahead of Norris, he drove his car back. Meanwhile, Hülkenberg was stuck in 13th position.

The highlights on the asphalt remained rare - not least at the front. There, Verstappen set the pace for a long time in the style of a worthy three-time world champion. After two thirds of the race distance, the 26-year-old was more than six seconds ahead of Norris. The McLaren star had to defend himself against Leclerc, but the Monegasque lost valuable time when he slipped on the grass.

In the final phase, Verstappen increased the pulse rate again. “My tires aren’t working,” he complained over the radio to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. The lead over Norris melted and melted. Then the Red Bull battery almost ran out of juice - but Verstappen saved himself across the finish line.

The result Pos Name Time 1. Max Verstappen 1:25.25,252 hours 2. Lando Norris +0,725 seconds 3. Charles Leclerc +7,916 4. Oscar piastri +14,132 5. Carlos Sainz +22,325 6. Lewis Hamilton +35,104 7. George Russell 47,154 8. Sergio Perez +54,776 9. Lance stroll +1.19,556 minutes 10. Yuki tsunoda + 1 round

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Imola: Verstappen drags himself over the line in front of Norris

After a late shaky game, Max Verstappen won the European opener of Formula 1 at the Ayrton Senna memorial in Imola and further extended his championship lead.

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