Verstappen earns his luck in brilliant Imola victory

Piastri’s error – but full credit to Verstappen

Championship leader Piastri looked crestfallen after the race and no wonder. Having pipped Verstappen to pole position on Saturday, the Aussie showed a rare sign of weakness by allowing the lead to slip too easily away in the race’s opening moments.

Piastri launched his McLaren smoothly from the grid and appeared to have the Red Bull covered into the first chicane, as behind him George Russell also started well in his Mercedes to move up alongside Verstappen. But how Russell then found himself boxed up and frustrated behind Piastri, complaining bitterly to his team on the radio, was a telling sign: Oscar was far too conservative into Tamburello.

“I braked too early,” he admitted, and that invited Verstappen to sweep around the outside on the natural racing line. Give him a sniff and he’ll mug you, as Piastri rued with a sick look on his face when he watched the start back in the ‘green room’ before the podium ceremony.

He'd tightened up, that much was obvious. For the first time this season, and after four beautifully executed victories from the opening six races, had the pressure of finding himself at the top of Formula 1 finally told? He’s been so ice-cold up to now, such a moment was unexpected. But it turns out he’s human. Perhaps this was a hard lesson learned…

Still, Verstappen deserves all credit for the move, even if Piastri made it easier than it should have been. This was another example of his total conviction and cast-iron self-belief in combat, and on a traditional, narrow European circuit bordered by grass and gravel such a move required pinpoint precision if it was to come off cleanly. It was a stunning moment and represented the very best of a great World Champion.

Luck he didn’t really need

Once in front, Verstappen had the pace he referred to in his post-race “unleashed” comment to establish his victory. A chastened Piastri followed him, with team-mate Lando Norris – disappointed to qualify a poor fourth – soon hounding Russell for third. Overtaking is supposedly tough at Imola, but with DRS assistance and Pirelli’s softest tyre compound choices succeeding in opening up strategy options, there were plenty of passing moves at what sadly looks to be the last Grand Prix at the grand old Italian track.

Russell started on used medium tyres, so was at a clear disadvantage to the benchmark McLaren, and there was little surprise when Norris expertly plotted a nicely executed move through the Villeneuve chicane on lap 11. Russell pitted for hard tyres directly after, a move that ultimately dropped him from contention for a podium.

Piastri was struggling in Verstappen’s wake, so also pulled the pin early and made his first stop for hard tyres on lap 13. It wasn’t the quickest turnaround, which only compounded the difficult spot in which he now found himself. He’d dropped right into the heart of the midfield and he was forced to pick his way through with a series of passes across the start/finish and into Tamburello.

Meanwhile, Norris ran long until lap 28, and Verstappen followed suit a lap later – just as a Virtual Safety Car was called. Esteban Ocon had pulled over and stopped his Haas on the run up to Piratella. Perfect timing for the leader, who could pit and rejoin still in the lead.

Full safety car creates a sprint finish

Piastri made his second stop under the VSC, consigning him to a set of hard tyres that would need to last a punishing 33 laps to the chequered flag. A podium was still on, yet given where he’d started his race was unravelling – largely because of his caution at the start. But there was still a twist in this tale before it was done.

Kimi Antonelli had been disappointed to qualify only 13^th in his first home Grand Prix, yet the teenager had raced well to run ahead of and frustrate Lewis Hamilton. But now he too lost drive out of Tosa and pulled off up the hill to Piratella. This time, and in contrast to the response to the Ocon retirement, the officials threw a full safety car.

Again Verstappen could stop without a threat to his lead, while Norris too came in. McLaren bolted on a set of medium Pirellis, and while he’d lost track position to the recovering Piastri he had the advantage of a huge tyre-life offset.

When racing resumed with nine laps to go, Verstappen sprinted away to a still-comfortable victory despite the safety car. During the pause, Norris had radioed in to gently point out he had the best shot at having a crack at the Red Bull – careful to add that he wasn’t requesting Piastri to let him pass.

But should McLaren have taken the tough call and switched the pair quickly at the restart to give the British driver a chance of taking the win? This is the now-regular dilemma for a team that has two drivers racing for the Championship. It’s refreshing that McLaren is allowing them to race – but you could argue it let Verstappen and Red Bull off the hook at Imola.

As it was, Norris spent three laps working out how to pass the tyre-disadvantaged Piastri and he managed it with an inch-perfect move on the outside line into Tamburello. The McLaren pitwall must have collectively held its breath as the pair came centimetres from contact, but Norris was through to finish second. Piastri’s points lead is now cut from 16 to 13 over his team-mate, with Verstappen just nine further back.

Hamilton delivers for the tifosi

There were plenty of other talking points at Imola: the pace revival of Aston Martin, even if Fernando Alonso was left cursing his luck with the VSC in the race; how traditional tracks bite mistakes hard, as Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine’s Jack Doohan replacement, Franco Colapinto, found to their discomfort in qualifying; there was another fine performance from Isack Hadjar in the Racing Bull and the continuing rise of Williams, with another fantastic effort from brief podium contender Alex Albon. But in Italy, Lewis Hamilton’s first appearance in red in front of the tifosi was always going to draw the lion’s share of attention.

Qualifying was again a disaster for Ferrari as both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fell at the second hurdle, the pair failing to progress beyond Q2. Leclerc lined up 11^th, Hamilton in 12^th, so Ferrari sensibly split their race strategies, Leclerc starting on mediums and Hamilton on the hards. As with others, those choices combined with the timing of the VSC proved crucial in defining their race outcomes – in this case very much in Hamilton’s favour.

Leclerc was an early stopper for hard tyres on lap ten, while Hamiton ran long, frustrated by Antonelli slipping ahead of him after the start. Nevertheless, that VSC came just at the right moment for the seven-time World Champion and he was among those to take advantage to make his first pit visit.

Now running ahead of Leclerc, Hamilton finally unlocked Antonelli’s defences with a great move into Tamburello, before the Mercedes’ demise triggered the full safety car. Hamilton made his second stop during the caution, with Leclerc now having risen to fourth. Ferrari hadn’t pitted Leclerc because it claimed it had no suitable tyres left to give him for the race’s final sprint. He’d made his second stop a lap before Piastri, so found himself even more vulnerable to attack.

Leclerc’s frustration

When the green flag fell, behind Verstappen, Piastri and Norris, came Leclerc, Albon and Hamilton – and the Williams, also on fresh tyres, was the one to watch. Albon pressed to find a way past and made his move on Leclerc at Tamburello on lap 59 of 63, only to find Leclerc running him out of room. Albon was forced to cut across the gravel, which allowed Hamilton through to then sweep by Leclerc to finish fourth. Yes, there had been luck, but he’d worked hard to rise from 12^th and was delighted to offer a decent gift for the tifosi in trying circumstances.

As for Leclerc, he was frustrated when Ferrari ordered him to give Albon fifth place to avoid a penalty for pushing the Williams off. “That’s what racing is now,” he vented on the radio, branding the state of racing “a joke” – although typically he was more circumspect after the race.

Leclerc now turns his attention directly to his home race at Monaco this coming weekend. But a repeat of his dream victory last year looks a long shot.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s duo will be out to wrest back momentum from the amazing Verstappen, who a week before Imola drove a Ferrari 296 GT3 on the Nürburgring Nordschleife for the first time, apparently lapping under the class lap record with the pseudonym ‘Franz Hermann’. The night before the Grand Prix, he also returned to the Nürburgring, this time virtually, again setting fastest laps in a sim race. The man is simply relentless. 

Images courtesy of Getty Images.