Max Verstappen finished with a very comfortable lead over his teammate after a dominating race. Red Bull managed a one-two at Ferrari’s home race at Imola for the Emilio Romagna Gran Prix on Sunday. Sergio Perez matched his teammate’s good form to propel his team into contention for the overall championship.
Verstappen has moved into second in the Drivers’ standings, now only 27 points behind leader Charles Leclerc. Red Bull is also only 11 points behind Ferrari in the Constructors championship.
He said, “It’s always tough to achieve something like that. As a team we did everything well, I think this one-two is very well deserved. Everything was well-managed.”
Sergio Perez battled with Charles Leclerc throughout the closing laps before the Ferrari driver spun off into the barriers.
“It was really tense, the fight,” said Perez. “But the most important thing today was not making mistakes. We’ve been so lucky, the start was so difficult for us, so very good to see that everyone in my team was smiling today.”
He added that for him wins are “the target, but today it’s a great day for the team. There’re a few things we have to do better to get the win but good job for Verstappen today.”
Lando Norris, who’s finished on the podium in all three races since F1’s returned to Imola, continued his impressive streak. He finished third in a good weekend for McLaren.
“Of course” it was a surprise, he said. “It was a an amazing race and great weekend obviously. The team deserves it, so top job to the team.”
But Norris said it came down to “hard work: a lot of time and effort everyone’s putting in back at the factory and everyone here. A mixture of just hard work and a great weekend and it all pays off.”
Mercedes managed a fourth-place finish with George Russell, although Lewis Hamilton languished in thirteenth. Russell held off a hard-charging Valtteri Bottas in his Alfa Romeo, who was battling against his replacement at Mercedes.
Mercedes Team principal Toto Wolff told his driver after the race: “Sorry for what you had to drive today, I know it was undriveable. This was a terrible race.” Hamilton responded, “No worries, Toto. Just keep working hard.”
It was a very bad day, though, for Ferrari. Daniel Ricciardo took out Charles Leclerc going into the first corner, taking the Ferrari driver out of the race and relegating the McLaren driver to being a backmarker throughout the race.
Charles Leclerc, though, had the pace to threaten the Red Bulls all race. However, while going for the fastest lap and an extra point, he lost control at the final chicane and spun into the barriers. After limping back to the pits for a new front wing, Leclerc managed to charge back through the field to salvage a disappointing fifth.
| POS | DRIVER | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:32:07.986 | 26 | |
| 2 | +16.527s | 18 | |
| 3 | +34.834s | 15 | |
| 4 | +42.506s | 12 | |
| 5 | +43.181s | 10 | |
| 6 | +56.072s | 8 | |
| 7 | +61.110s | 6 | |
| 8 | +70.892s | 4 | |
| 9 | +75.260s | 2 | |
| 10 | +1 lap | 1 | |
| 11 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 12 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 13 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 14 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 15 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 16 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 17 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 18 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 |
- Lola will returns to racing with a Formula E entry - March 28, 2024
- Doriane Pin impresses Mercedes team with dominant F1 Academy debut - March 8, 2024
- Lewis Hamilton announces move to Ferrari shocking F1 and the world - February 1, 2024