Imola GP: Verstappen reignites title bid with win as Leclerc rues spin

Max Verstappen completed a perfect weekend to reignite his championship bid with victory at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Dutchman led every lap in a wet/dry race at Imola, claiming victory by 16.5s over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez on a great day for the Milton Keynes-based team.

A mistake by Charles Leclerc chasing Sergio Perez cost the Monegasque an extra pit-stop to repair his front wing, promoting Lando Norris upto third for McLaren.

Race Review

In a wet start, Verstappen kept the lead into Turn 1 as Leclerc lost two places to Perez and Norris on the run to Tamburello.

Carlos Sainz’s race ended in the gravel at the first chicane after being spun by Daniel Ricciardo, causing an early Safety Car.

Kevin Magnussen and George Russell capitalised on the tussles to move into the top six.

Problems for Fernando Alonso after the restart as damage to his right-hand sidepod forced the Spaniard to retire.

On the track, Leclerc began to repair the damage from his poor start with a nice move on Norris to reclaim third into Tamburello.

While Magnussen dropped two places behind Russell and Bottas as the Haas struggled in the drying conditions.

Though teams expected more rain, Ricciardo triggered everyone to move onto slick tyres as a dry line emerged.

Leclerc pitted a lap later than Perez and emerged ahead but couldn’t keep the Mexican on warmer tyres behind as he reclaimed second into the Villeneuve chicane.

Further behind, Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton made contact in the pit lane after a slow stop at Mercedes, with the Alpine getting a five-second penalty as a result.

The seven-time world champion also lost three places in the pit-stop phase down to 14th becoming stuck in a train behind Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly.

To make matters even worse, Hamilton was then lapped by Verstappen on Lap 40, putting a cherry on a very distasteful cake for the Briton.

At the front, a mistake for Perez gave Leclerc a chance to attack for P2, but the Ferrari couldn’t quite get alongside to overtake.

With Checo able to re-establish a small margin, the Monegasque pitted for soft tyres with 14 laps to go in a bid for the fastest lap.

Red Bull responded with both cars but, in a reversal from the first stop, it was Charles who closed in on Perez on his warmer tyres.

Hopes of second place were dashed though when Leclerc spun at the Variante Alta after taking too much inside kerb.

A light hit against the barrier caused damage to his front wing requiring a third pit-stop, dropping him to P9.

The moment freed up the two Red Bulls to cruise home as Verstappen claimed his second win of the year ahead of Perez.

Norris made it back-to-back podiums in third for McLaren with Russell holding off Bottas in the closing laps to finish fourth and fifth respectively.

Leclerc recovered to P6, passing Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel and Kevin Magnussen in P7-P9, Lance Stroll completed the top 10 as Aston Martin scored their first points of the year.

Albon just missed out on consecutive points finishes in P11, ahead of Gasly and Hamilton as Ocon’s penalty dropped him to 14th.

Zhou Guanyu was 15th ahead of Nicholas Latifi, Mick Schumacher spun at the start and couldn’t recover in 17th, likewise Ricciardo in 18th.

Alonso and Sainz were the only retirements.

Full results from the race can be seen below: