If you looked only at the official results of the Emilia Romagna grand prix, you’d probably think the normal Formula 1 order has been restored. In part, you’d be right. But a closer look will reveal that Max Verstappen held off Lando Norris by only seven tenths of a second to win the race.
The race in Imola was a bit of a slow burn. Verstappen, who had secured pole position by less than half a tenth on Saturday, led from Norris and steadily began to build a gap over second place. But this was the first time, all weekend, that Verstappen seemed to be comfortable. From the first free practice session on Friday Verstappen struggled to find a setup that worked and spent most of his time down towards the bottom end of the top ten. A hefty amount of work between Friday and Saturday, including an eleven-hour stint for Sebastian Buemi in the simulator, gave Verstappen something to work with. He had to dig deep but still conjured a seriously impressive lap to secure pole.
It seemed for all intents and purpose that Verstappen was well in control of proceedings as he built a six second gap over Norris. The pace McLaren had shown in Miami was nowhere to be found and at some points in the race Norris was under pressure from Leclerc in the Ferrari too. Even as the pitstop window opened, and the front runners swopped onto hard tyres, Verstappen seemed to have everything well under control. Meanwhile, Norris was forced to look in his mirrors more than ahead as Leclerc, now the fastest driver on track, closed to within one second of him. It seemed inevitable that Leclerc would take second place, but Norris had been given the hurry up and steadily dropped the Ferrari. As a result, the six second gap to Verstappen also began to evaporate and by lap 52 it was down to four seconds. As in Miami, Verstappen was struggling with the worn hard tyre, sometimes losing more than half a second to Norris per lap.
With a handful of laps to go it Norris was within two seconds of Verstappen. It was clear that Norris was throwing the McLaren into the corners at an alarmingly impressive, not least of all because he nearly dropped the car into the gravel on more than one occasion. It didn’t deter his charge, but it did make snatching the lead of the race more difficult. As it were, in a thrilling conclusion Norris finished only seven tenths of a second behind Verstappen. It has underlined that McLaren’s pace was not a one-off in Miami and that Red Bull will have to be on their toes going forward.
Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari in front of grandstands dominated by the Tifosi. Although Ferrari’s free practice pace didn’t materialize in qualifying, they have clearly made a step forward with their upgrade package and are sure to be a factor in Monaco this weekend. Oscar Piastri qualified second but started fifth due to a penalty for impeding in qualifying. The Aussie driver finished a solid fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz in
fifth. Mercedes continues to struggle with their inconsistent pace as Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished sixth and seventh. It was a forgetful weekend for Checo Perez who, after starting eleventh, finished in eighth place. Lance Stroll scored Aston Martin’s only points in ninth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in tenth.
Imola revealed not only a few potential chinks in the Red Bull armour but also demonstrated that McLaren are now well in the mix and Ferrari too showed improvement in terms of pace. Seventeen races remain in the 2024 season that has, at least for now, taken an exciting turn. The good news is that it’s right back to the action this weekend with the Monaco grand prix.
