
Max Verstappen scored his second race victory of this highly competitive Formula 1 season at Imola, finishing ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
This was Red Bull Racing’s 400th race and the key to Super Max’s win was on the opening lap as Verstappen was late on the brakes to pass both George Russell and Oscar Piastri heading into Turn 1 on the first lap.
From second on the grid Verstappen attacked Piastri into the first braking zone of Tamburello, going late on the brakes around the outside to sweep past the championship leader with a brilliant 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 driver 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 defending champion.
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, 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 teammate.
The stalemate didn’t last, however, with another pivotal interruption on lap 47 when 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 ten lap shootout as the field was released on Lap 54.
On fresher tyres Norris made quick work of his McLaren teammate, but he was unable to stop Verstappen from marching to a second win of the 2025 season, while Piastri settled for third.
On split strategies the Ferraris produced a combative display following a disastrous qualifying session that saw Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton P11 and P12 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 Ferrari driver finished sixth behind the Williams driver.
Russell was another driver to lose out on strategy, although the high tyre wear didn’t help matters as the Mercedes driver 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 P10.
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.
So a good, entertaining race at Imola and Piastri remains in the lead of the championship, heading Norris by 13 points and Verstappen by 22.
The Formula 1 paddock now heads down to Monaco for the second part of a European triple-header. Will be interesting if McLaren can strike back at the iconic street circuit.

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:31:33.199
2 Lando Norris McLaren +6.109s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +12.956s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +14.356s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +17.945s
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +20.774s
7 George Russell Mercedes +22.034s
8 Carlos Sainz Williams +22.898s
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +23.586s
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +26.446s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +27.250s
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +30.296s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +31.424s
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +32.511s
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +32.993s
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine +33.411s
17 Oliver Bearman Haas +33.808s
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +38.572s
Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes DNF
Esteban Ocon Haas DNF