F1 | Race | Imola GP | Verstappen's ballsy move secures win in eventful race - Motorsport

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The anticipation was high for the F1 Emilia Romagna GP at Imola, as Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen again shared the front row. With Ferrari outside of the top ten and heavy crashes for Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto in qualifying, there were storylines aplenty. Full report and results are below.

Max’ masterful move

Off the line, it looked like George Russell and Piastri had the best getaway, but in the braking-zone it was Verstappen that took the lead around the outside. Further back Lewis Hamilton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli swapped positions, as Isack Hadjar dropped two places to 11^th.

Esteban Ocon is the first driver to stop and get rid of the medium tyres immediately, and drops behind Tsunoda. The JApanese driver started from pit lane after his crash in Q1 yesterday.

Hamilton tries to overtake Antonelli into Tamburello, but cannot make the move stick. Team mate Charles Leclerc tries to overtake Pierre Gasly into Piratella, and intimidates the Frenchman into the gravel. This drops Gasly to 14^th.

Undercut proves to be powerful

Once the Imola GP settled a bit, Verstappen and Piastri were trading fastest laps, which no longer gives a point in F1. A bit further back Hamilton clearly is stuck behind Antonelli. He is the last one in a DRS-train starting from third place, overtaking is difficult.

Lando Norris is the one breaking up the long DRS-train momentaril by pressuring Russell. However, he cannot make it past in both Tamburello and Villeneuve. A lap later Norris tries it again, but even over the grass he cannot pass Russell at the moment.

The intra-British kerfuffle reinstated the DRS-train from third to 12^th again. And more improtantly, it lets Verstappen and Piastri escape.

Starting lap 11 Norris tries it again into Tamburello, but Russell again defends. The McLaren driver has the better exit and

Russell and Sainz take this as an opportunity to stop early. They come out behind Leclerc who already stopped in lap 10. Fernando Alonso and his protege Gabriel Bortoleto, with the Spaniard coming out behind Russell.

Piastri stops in lap 14, but his stop is relatively slow, but he manages to cover Leclerc easily. Verstappen does not cover immediately, as Leclerc currently has the fastest lap of the race.

Liam Lawson overtakes Bortoleto for 18th with DRS, one of the few straightforward overtakes so far.

Carlos Sainz of Williams Racing leading a train of cars at the F1 Imola GP — Photo credit: Williams Racing

Lot of overtaking due to different strategies

Tsunoda gets instructed by his engineer to hold up Piastri, as both he and Oliver Bearman have started on the hard tyres. However, Verstappen’s team mate makes a mistake, which gives Piastri the opportunity to overtake into Tamburello.

Piastri also quickly clears Bearman, but in the meantime he is 32 seconds behind the lead, which means the undercut is not working so far for the Ozzy. Next victim is Colapinto who is on older medium tyres. This gives Piastri a bit of clear air for the moment.

Leclerc takes a bit longer to overtake Tsunoca, but eventually manages into Tamburello. Hamilton is still stuck behind Antonelli and wants an undercut, but the pit wall says there is no gap for the seven-time world champion to fall into.

Russell complains in the meantime about his car wiggling on the straight, as Piastri has gone past Nico Hülkenberg. He is however still more than 30 seconds behind the lead.

Despite Russell complaining he managed to pass Tsunoda, as a lap later Piastri manages to pass Hamilton around the outside of Tamburello, again.

VSC shuffles the field

Currently operating under the radar are Alex Albon and Hadjar, driving around on old mediums in third and fourth. Piastri and Leclerc both make op a position again, passing Antonelli and Hülkenberg respectively.

Hadjar is also easily passed by Piastri, which apparently prompts McLaren to bring in team mate Norris. He has a quick stop, but the VSC comes out as Ocon has to stop coming out of Tosa.

This means Verstappen can make a cheap stop, just as Albon, Hadjar, Antonelli and Hamilton. Some drivers also opt to make their second stop, which makes it a strategically interesting race.

With the VSC staying out for a bit, McLaren also pits Piastri, but the championship leader drops behind Albon just as the VSC is ending. All in all this means Verstappen has a lead of about 20 seconds, as Antonelli is on the tail of Hadjar.

The pressure on Hadjar doesn’t stay too long, as Antonelli loses some ground. This gives Hamilton the opportunity to finally pass his replacement at Mercedes.

Antonelli’s team mate Russell is on a roll in the meantime, as he picks apart Hülkenberg, Stroll and Alonso in quick succession. The same can be said for Hamilton, as he quickly disposes of Hadjar as well.

Piastri is quickly closing the distance to Albon, but whereas Russell and Hamilton have a tyre advantage, Piastri’s tyres are only a little bit fresher than Albon’s.

Lando Norris of McLaren Racing at the F1 Imola GP — Photo Credit: McLaren Racing

Aston Martin on the wrong strategy

At the front of the F1 Imola GP Verstappen is just managing the race. Norris does come a bit closer, but with a little over 20 laps to go, the rate is not quick enough to close the gap fully.

Both Aston Martins are dropping through the field, proving why a lot of drivers did a second stop.

Albon is noted for a possible yellow flag infringement, but as it is judged that no further investigation is needed, he is passed by Piastri quite easily.

Leclerc also passes Hadjar, proving that Ferrari has a better car today than that they had yesterday. Same can be said about Tsunoda, as he clears Alonso for 12^th. Much to the despair of the Spaniard, who calls himself the “unluckiest driver in the **** world”.

Safety Car shuffles field again

Antonelli is also not a happy chap, as his car breaks down coming out of Villeneuve. He parks his car on the run to Piratella, and now a full Safety car is called. Verstappen decides to stop, Norris too, but Piastri stays out. Hamilton and Hadjar also stop, as do a lot of drivers further back.

Albon stops a lap later, surrendering a position to Leclerc, but having much fresher tyres.

The location of Antonelli’s car makes it quite the lengthy Safety car, giving both Norris and Leclerc the opportunity to discuss the current strategy.

Verstappen unbothered by action behind him

With 10 laps to go the field is released once again. Verstappen hits the gas early, and Piastri and Norris have to look back rather than look ahead. Albon tries to go around the outside of Piratella but makes the sensible decision. Tsunoda does improve in that turn and goes into the points.

Albon and Norris are noted for the pit exit under the safety car, as they were really close at the first safety car line. There however is no further action needed. Verstappen in the meantime clocks the fastest lap.

Hamilton puts the pressure on Russell into Piratella, but the younger of the two Britons defends for the moment. However, back on the main straight Hamilton manages to pass.

Norris also increases the pressure on Piastri, and with six laps to go he makes a great move around the outside of Tamburello. Albon for now fails to do the same on Leclerc.

He tries it again at the next lap, but couldn’t manage to hold on and had to take to the gravel. This promotes Hamilton to fifth, who does immediately overtake Leclerc at the next lap around.

Albon tries it again the next lap, but cannot get his car far enough alongside to make a move stick. He stays really close to the Monegasque driver, and is let by the next lap under threat of a penalty for Leclerc.

Verstappen however is unbothered by everything behind him and he takes the chequered flag first. Verstappen’s fourth consecutive win at the Imola GP is an F1 record for the track. Norris and Piastri complete the podium, ahead of Hamilton, Albon and Leclerc. Russell is seventh from Sainz, Hadjar and Tsunoda.