Max Verstappen took his second victory of the season and edged closer to the McLaren drivers in the Drivers’ Championship in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
It was an impressive victory for the Red Bull driver after he pulled off an outstanding move on Oscar Piastri on the run down into Turn 1, in which the Dutchman braked later and used the outside line.
Verstappen emerged in the lead of the race and effectively controlled the pace from there. Red Bull would get lucky later in the race when a Virtual Safety Car effectively gave Verstappen a free pit stop, enabling him to stay ahead of both McLarens.
Despite a late full Safety Car, Red Bull had the opposition covered, turning around their fortunes from Friday when it looked like Verstappen could not match either McLaren driver in the race.
Discussing his move on Piastri in the opening stages of the race, Alex Brundle spotted something that Verstappen did, which made the overtake even more impressive when speaking on F1 TV.
Alex Brundle spots ‘beautiful’ thing Max Verstappen did with overtake on Oscar Piastri
Verstappen’s bold move effectively sealed the win for the Red Bull driver, as he knew overtaking would be difficult at the track.
Brundle outlines one part of the move that was the most impressive, considering how he nearly lost second place to George Russell off the line.
“It’s beautiful car control down into Tamburello, because he gets the car on this outside line and he puts it in this perfect position. That doesn’t allow George Russell to dive across and take his gap that he wants to post the car into in a moment’s time,” said Brundle.
“He’s left just under a cars-width on the outside as well, so he hasn’t allowed Lando Norris to come charging down his outside either. Beautifully positioned on the gripper, less bumpy outside line, and then this is just pure touch on the brake pedal.
“Believe it or not, this is what race car drivers call a ‘compliment’ the way Verstappen turns in to Piastri, because he leaves a tiny gap and firmly believes he won’t understeer across the road into him. From there, according to the racing guidelines, Verstappen owns the second apex and can drive off through the second and third parts of Tamburello.”
Max Verstappen and Red Bull edge closer to McLaren
The win for Verstappen effectively vindicates the upgrades brought by Red Bull over the race weekend, which include new bodywork and revised suspension.
Red Bull’s start to 2025 has not been as impressive as previous seasons, with Verstappen scoring nearly all of the points in the Constructors’ Championship so far.
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
146 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
133 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
124 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
99 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
61 |
| 6 |
Lewis Hamilton |
53 |
| 7 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
| 8 |
Alexander Albon |
40 |
| 9 |
Esteban Ocon |
14 |
| 10 |
Lance Stroll |
14 |
Yuki Tsunoda suffered a terrible crash during qualifying which put him in the pit lane for the start, although he managed to recover into the points in 10th place.
Verstappen is now within 10 points of Norris in the Drivers’ Championship, with Piastri only a further 22 points ahead after he finished in third place.
