F1 Imola GP: Max Verstappen and Red Bull outfox McLaren for victory

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has won Imola’s Emilia Romagna Grand prix, interrupting a McLaren victory run by brilliantly snatching the lead at the start.

Lando Norris was second after passing polesitter Oscar Piastri late on, with two safety car situations mixing up the order.

From second on the grid Verstappen attacked Piastri into the first braking zone of Tamburello, going late on the brakes around the outside to swoop past the Australian with an outstanding move.

In Verstappen’s wake Piastri decided to stop early for what was expected to be a one-stop race, exchanging his medium tyres for hards on lap 14.

A similarly early pitstop for third-starting George Russell also released Lando Norris into clear air, with the Briton 10 seconds behind Verstappen at that stage.

Red Bull’s tyre wear appeared more promising than expected, with Verstappen shipping two to three tenths per lap to the chasing McLaren, which was not enough of a pace difference to worry the leading Dutchman.

But the race then received a first plot twist on lap 29 with a virtual safety car for the stricken Haas of Esteban Ocon, who parked up between the Variante Alta and Rivazza.

The VSC situation massively benefitted those who hadn’t pitted yet, including Verstappen. Norris had crucially come in the previous lap, losing out in the process.

As the race went green again on lap 31, Verstappen’s lead had grown to 20 seconds over the Briton, with Alexander Albon also benefitting to move up to third ahead of Piastri.

Norris was unable to gain back more than two seconds on Verstappen, while Piastri swiftly moved up to third but was already falling over 12 seconds behind his team-mate.

The stalemate didn’t last, however, with another pivotal interruption on lap 47 when Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired from eighth position, this time bringing out a full safety car.

Verstappen pitted for a second set of hard tyres, as did Norris. Piastri stayed out, splitting the pair for the final 10-lap shootout as the field was released on Lap 54.

On fresher tyres Norris made quick work of his team-mate, but he was unable to stop Verstappen from marching to a second win of the 2025 season, while Piastri settled for third.

Beleaguered Ferrari finds redemption for qualifying disaster

On split strategies the Ferraris produced a combative display following a disastrous qualifying session that saw Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton 11th and 12th on the grid.

Both made a good start, but Leclerc looked set to lose out under the first VSC situation, only to then be brought back into the race by staying out under the late safety car.

Leclerc ultimately failed to keep fourth on his older tyres, first shoving Albon off the road into Tamburello, which saw Albon lose out to the pursuing Hamilton as well.

Hamilton did pass Leclerc, who was then told to let Albon through in order to avoid any potential five-second penalty for the earlier incident. The Monegasque finished sixth behind the Thai driver.

Russell was another driver to lose out on strategy, although Mercedes’ high tyre wear didn’t help matters as the Briton started on the mediums he used in qualifying.

Sainz was eighth to complete a double points finish for Williams, followed by Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar. After a violent crash in qualifying, Yuki Tsunoda produced a spirited drive and made a one-stopper work to climb to 10th.

Aston Martin was the afternoon’s biggest loser, with both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll dropping out of the points after a tyre gamble which allowed the pair to shine in qualifying, but saw them lacking a crucial set of hard tyres for the safety-car-interrupted event.

Piastri remains in the lead of the championship, heading Norris by 13 points and Verstappen by 22.

The F1 paddock now heads down to Monaco for the second part of a European triple-header.

2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix results

More to follow

Photos from Imola GP – Race