On a sunny and warm Sunday the long-awaited GP of Formula 1 from Imola: in a race full of twists and turns, Max Verstappen triumphs, ahead of Norris and Piastri. The Ferraris, after a disastrous qualification, redeem themselves and finish in fourth and sixth position with, respectively, Hamilton and Leclerc. Forced retirement for the young home talent Kimi Antonelli.
At the start of the Imola GP Verstappen inside on Piastri
In the top 10, everyone starts on medium tyres. The first to start on hard tyres is Lewis Hamilton (12th), followed by Antonelli, also on the harder compounds. The lights go out and Max Verstappen immediately takes first place with a fearsome braking move against Piastri. The Dutchman doesn't get off to a great start and Piastri, feeling safe, brakes early, allowing Verstappen to dive around the outside of turn 1. The top eight positions remain unchanged, while Leclerc moves up to ninth after a tussle with Gasly who ends up in the gravel and loses several positions.
Very high pace but Verstappen remains ahead
The Ferraris seem to be much more on the ball than in qualifying: Leclerc is getting closer to Stroll as is Hamilton to Antonelli. Up front, the battle between Norris and Russell for third place was great, with the English drivers losing precious seconds to the leading duo Verstappen-Piastri, separated by just over a second. Russell was acting as a stopper: behind him, everyone was under a second up to Hamilton, forming a DRS train and Ferrari noticed this, stopping Leclerc. Russell stops the next lap but the undercut works. Leclerc from ninth finds himself incredibly ahead of the English driver.
The pace is very high and many riders stop before the 15th lap. Verstappen and Norris remain out, as do the drivers who started on hard tyres. Piastri stops but finds himself in traffic and therefore does not gain on Verstappen and Norris, who with clean air can set their pace. The Australian driver still climbs up the order, climbing to fourth place on lap 28. Drivers like Verstappen, Norris, Albon and Hadjar continue on the medium tyres, beating Pirelli's projections for a pit stop no later than lap 25.
Ocon's retirement reshuffles the cards at the Imola GP: big opportunity for Verstappen
On lap 29, the twist comes. Ocon has to pull his Haas over to the side of the track and it's the Virtual Safety Car, just a few seconds after Lando Norris's pit stop. Everyone stops. A sensational wildcard for Verstappen, Albon and Hadjar: the Dutch driver finds himself in first position with new tyres and a twenty second advantage over Norris, Albon is third ahead of Piastri and Hadjar, incredibly fifth. Very unlucky Leclerc who is forced to stop a second time and is behind Hamilton, as well as Russell, who after the whirlwind of pit stops occupies eleventh position.
Hamilton takes fifth place, freeing himself from Antonelli and Hadjar. The English driver sets the fastest lap with his fresh yellow tyres which however will have to last 30 laps. The situation on lap 36 sees Verstappen in front of everyone, ahead of Norris, Albon, Piastri, Hamilton, Hadjar, Antonelli, Leclerc, Russell and Hülkenberg, tenth with his Kick Sauber.
Piastri overtakes Albon for the podium, while the Aston Martins that didn't stop struggle, dropping out of the points zone. Leclerc climbs up, overtaking the Italian and Hadjar, finishing behind Hamilton.
Antonelli retires: Safety Car on track at Imola
Another twist occurred on lap 46. Antonelli retires due to accelerator problems and the Safety Car comes out. Verstappen and Norris stop while Piastri stays out, as do Leclerc and Russell, and moves up to second. Hamilton stops for new hard tyres and drops to seventh.
The situation in the top 10 is chaotic: half of the drivers stopped for new tyres, the other half took the opposite decision. With 9 laps to go the Safety Car came out. Verstappen takes flight while the McLaren drivers battle among themselves, with Norris aggressively passing Piastri in turn 1. There is also a fight for fourth place between Leclerc, Albon and Hamilton with the latter prevailing, and Albon close behind. Leclerc had to give up the position amid controversy after accompanying him into the gravel at turn 1.
This incredible Imola GP ends with Max Verstappen who, with a good dose of luck accompanied by an exceptional driving style, triumphs managing to contain the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The four-time world champion driver once again proved capable of seizing any opportunity that came his way, staying in the slipstream of the McLarens in the world championship. Hamilton was fourth, moving up eight places from his qualifying position, followed by Albon, Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Hadjar and Tsunoda to complete the top 8.
