Source : ABC NEWS
Max Verstappen displayed all his skill and verve to overtake Australian driver Oscar Piastri at the very first corner of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
From that point on, he never looked back.
It was an imperious display from the Dutch driver, who helped Red Bull celebrate its 400th race weekend with a second race victory of the season and 65th in his career, despite seemingly having the second-fastest race car.
Even a late safety car could not deny Verstappen, who prospered as McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Piastri bickered over second.
Piastri, stranded on old tyres after his team opted not to pit him when the safety car was deployed, was a sitting duck for his teammate Norris, who swept past on the corner to claim second and reduce the gap at the top of the drivers world championship standings.
“Yeah, just braked to early,” Piastri said of the superb move from Verstappen at the opening corner, acknowledging the the move was “good”.
“I think we made a few wrong calls after that as well anyway,” the Aussie added.
“Not our best Sunday. Definitely a lot of things to look at and review after that.”
Oscar Piastri finished third behind teammate Oscar Piastri. (Getty Images: LAT Images/Steven Tee)
Piastri will bemoan a sloppy strategy from McLaren, who pitted the Aussie early and was forced to weave his way through traffic on the notoriously tight Imola circuit.
But really, the race was lost at that first corner.
A late safety car, deployed after local boy Kimi Antonelli ditched his car on the side of the track, condensed the field and momentarily made the win seem less than certain for Verstappen.
However, Piastri, stranded on old tyres, held Norris up sufficiently up at the restart and by the time Norris got past, Verstappen was already way up the road.
The two McLaren’s were allowed to fight for the position, with the pair coming thrillingly close to touching as Norris made his move.
“We had a good little battle between Oscar and myself,” Norris said with a smile.
“Always tense but always good fun.”
Piastri remains in control of the drivers world championship, leading Lando Norris by 13 points, with Max Verstappen 22 points off Piastri’s tally in third.
Lewis Hamilton sent the local tifosi into raptures with a late surge into fourth place, although his teammate Charles Leclerc was left fuming after being told to return a hard-earned place back to William driver Alex Albon after he was judged to have pushed the Thai driver off the track — a charge he violently disagreed with.
The Monegasque driver will hope to make amends next week when the Formula 1 circus heads to the streets of Monaco in the second of three back-to-back races in Europe.
Look back on how all the action unfolded in our live blog.
Key Events
-
2h ago2 hours agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:36pm
-
2h ago2 hours agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:36pm
-
2h ago2 hours agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:36pm
1h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 3:09pm
Let’s leave that there
So, thanks for being with us this evening.
A disappointing race for Oscar Piastri, who will have plenty of discussions with his team you’d think after a couple of very questionable calls were made to sabotage his chances.
However, a podium is nothing to be sniffed at.
And he won’t have too long to stew on it either – Monaco is looming next weekend.
We’ll be back for that historic race too, so thank you once again for joining me tonight and we’ll see you next time.
1h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:53pm
We’ll have to use our imagination…
Thanks Simon, just wondering what the punchline to Leclerc’s this is a ****** joke “This is what racing is now, you have to let people past?” is? – never mind, I’ll work it out after another tyre water toddie…
– The other Mike
1h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:52pm
‘Third it is’: Norris
Reactive tactics/strategy from McLaren but none-the-less 2 on the podium. Third after pole position is (to me) an acceptable outcome for Oscar. Thank you Simon – sleep well. I will.
– Old timer
I agree, Old timer.
He was hamstrung by the tactics somewhat, but third was the best he could have hoped for you’d think in that situation.
1h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:51pm
Verstappen not too happy with start
Here is Max Verstappen.
“The start itself wasn’t particularly great,” he says.
“But then I was still on the outside line, basically the normal line, and I thought, well, maybe I can send it around the outside.
“And it worked really well, and we unleashed our pace.”
1h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:49pm
Norris enjoyed ‘tense’ battle with Piastri
Lando Norris is speaking now.
He says that he was unhappy to be so far behind Max Verstappen, but said a big part of that was down to his battle with his teammate.
“We had a good little battle between Oscar and myself, Always tense but always good fun,” he says.
1h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:47pm
Oscar Piastri: ‘We made a few wrong calls’
Here’s Oscar Piastri’s thoughts.
“Just braked too early,” Piastri says of Max Verstappen’s move.
“It was a good move from Max as well.
“I think we made a few wrong calls after that as well anyway, not our best Sunday.
“Definitely a lot of things to look at and review after that.”
Oscar Piastri third
Lando Norris second
Max Verstappen wins
2h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:36pm
Lap 63: Leclerc ordered to give Albon the position
“This is a ******* joke,” Leclerc said.
“This is what racing is now, you have to let people past?”
He isn’t happy.
2h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:35pm
Lap 62: Verstappen has the race wrapped up
With two laps to go, Verstappen leads by 6.5 seconds from Norris.
Piastri is five seconds back, under two seconds ahead of a charging Hamilton.
2h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:34pm
Lap 61: Hamilton passes Leclerc!
Lewis Hamilton has made a move on Charles Leclerc and makes it stick!
Great stuff from the British driver and now he will be on the charge to get Piastri in his sights – but he might not have enough time!
2h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:33pm
Lap 60: Albon goes over the gravel!
Albon went round the outside of Charles Leclerc, they were side by side into the first corner and Albon had to bail out!
He’s on the gravel and bouncing away.
Lewis Hamilton has flown past to take advantage of the error.
“That wasn’t fair,” says Albon over the radio.
I beg to differ, it looked like they were side by side.
2h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:31pm
Lap 60: Max Verstappen has the fastest lap
And he has pulled away from Norris to close to six seconds.
Lap 58: Norris overtakes Piastri!
Wonderful move from the Englishman!
They were allowed to fight but they stuck to the rules of engagement and kept it very, very clean!
The race win has gone up the road, Verstappen is over five seconds ahead of Norris now.
But that was a great move under breaking.
They came so close to touching, perhaps they did! It was super close but super fair.
2h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:28pm
Lap 57: Norris is half a second behind Piastri
2h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:27pm
Lap 57: Lewis Hamilton into sixth
Lovely move from Lewis Hamilton under breaking to push George Russell down a place.
2h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:27pm
Lap 56: Verstappen has 2.5 seconds lead
Max Verstappen has sailed off into the distance.
So this is going to be a battle for second between the two McLarens.
Norris is under a second behind Piastri.
Leclerc is 1.5 ahead of Albon, who is just 0.6 ahead of Russell.
2h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:25pm
Lap 55: Norris under investigation
Lando Norris is under investigation for potentially being behind of Alex Albon as he exited the pits and, essentially overtaking him under the safety car.
So this race might not even be over once the chequered flag falls.
Or not, there’s no further investigation required.
2h agoSun 18 May 2025 at 2:24pm
Lap 54: We’re back underway!
A 10-lap sprint!
Verstappen controlled the race superbly and he has got a leap out in front.
Norris had to defend on Leclerc after getting close to Piastri initially.
Immense speed from the Ferrari!
