the dutch Max Verstappen won on Sunday Emilia-Romagna Grand Prixfourth race of the year Formula 1at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, Italy, followed by his Red Bull teammate, the Mexican Sergio “Checo” Perez.
Verstappen, who started the race from pole position, dominated from start to finish. His rival so far this season, the championship leader charles leclerc (Ferrari), who started in second position, finished 6th, very far from the podium completed by “Czech” Perez and the british lando norris (McLaren).
Sergio “Checo” Pérez achieves second place. Photo: Reuters
“Already yesterday (Saturday) and the day before yesterday (Friday) we were in the fight and a solid weekend was ventured. As a team we have done well and this double is well deserved. Everything has been well controlled”, congratulated a Verstappen who thanks to his victory and first place in the sprint race on Saturday adds enough points to place second in the drivers’ championship.
Failure for the Scuderia
Despite having an audience dedicated to his cause, Leclerc he never managed to take advantage of the reigning world champion. After his two victories (in four races), in Bahrain and Australia, the Monegasque adds his worst result of the season at home.
Leclerc made a poor start, dropping to 4th before regaining a place. But on lap 54, with nine to go, he struggled, causing him to drop down in the standings and even miss the podium after a rain-soaked weekend at Imola.
“Third place was the best I could get because they didn’t have the pace for much more and I paid for that ambition” for wanting to win, which led him to spin that ruined his podium.
“I have lost precious points” for the championship fight, he added.
In front of the red grandstands, decorated in the colors of Ferrari, Verstappen He achieved his second victory of the season, after the one already achieved in Saudi Arabia.
Despite this, Leclerc still holds first place in the drivers’ championship with 86 points, compared to 59 for Verstappen, current world champion and who this season has already been forced to withdraw from two Grand Prix due to mechanical problems.
“The start of the season in general had not been extraordinary, so we needed a good weekend,” admitted the Dutchman.
Abandonments of Sainz and Alonso
The other Ferrari, driven by Spaniard Carlos Sainz, had to retire after a first lap crash with Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren.
This is the second consecutive abandonment of the Spaniard, after Australia, and therefore drops from 2nd to 5th position in the championship.
He also left his compatriot Fernando Alonso (Alpine) after another accident with the German Mick Schumacher (Haas). The double world champion adds three consecutive races without scoring.
“It was another unlucky race for us this season. We made a decent start and moved up to eighth, but the right side of the ground was damaged and I had no choice but to retire,” explained the Spaniard.
For his part, the British George Russell, who started 11th, raised morale in Mercedes, managing to climb to 4th position, a result that served to hide the discreet performance of his teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
The seven-time world champion, starting from 14th position, managed to climb one to finish 13th… after being lapped by Verstappen, his rival for the title last year!
“It has been a weekend to forget, without a doubt. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. There is not much more to say,” admitted Hamilton.
“I have apologized to him for the car he has to drive at the moment. We are going to review things for Miami (May 6-8) and I think we can take a step forward, make improvements to the car that will solve some problems. “Mercedes skipper Toto Wolff declared after the race.
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