Strategic battle, drama in the last rounds! The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix didn’t recognise a surprise winner in the end

In the end, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix did not recognize a surprise winner. Max Verstappen won the seventh race of this season, but with a minimal lead over second-placed Lando Norris. Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium.

After Saturday’s qualifying, Max Verstappen took pole position, helped by Nico Hülkenberg, who was able to gain the first place on the grid via DRS. Oscar Piastri set the second fastest time in qualifying, but due to Kevin Magnussen’s blocking, he collected a penalty in the form of a three-place grid drop.

He therefore went into the seventh race of the season fifth. The reigning champion was joined on the front row by Lando Norris. Both Ferrari drivers were on the second row. You can see the complete grid in the attached post below. It should be added, Fernando Alonso eventually started from the pits.

The Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna – Introduction

Verstappen made the best start to the seventh race of this year’s Formula 1 season, taking the top spot from the front of the grid. Second-placed Norris fought a battle with Spain’s Sainz, but like the Dutch driver, he defended his position.

Despite various predictions, the start was without collision. The RB pilots made an unsuccessful start to the race at the Imola circuit. Júki Cunoda and Daniel Ricciardo dropped to ninth and eleventh respectively.

After that, however, the top ten in points settled down and the big strategic battle began at Imola. How did the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix look after ten laps? Verstappen was leading, followed by Norris, Leclerc, Sainz, Piastri, Russell, Hamilton, Hülkenberg, Cunoda and Sergio Pérez rounded out the top ten.

The drivers made their first pit stops on lap nine. Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas stopped for the hardest set of tyres. A total of six drivers switched to hard tyres for lap 20. It was Albon who was very unlucky in the pits.

He changed to the hard tyre on lap nine, but the mechanics did not fix his right front wheel properly. Albon then lost a huge amount of time and dropped hopelessly to the tail of the field. A lap later he reverted to a medium set of tyres.

The middle part of the race

Needless to say, on lap 14 the RB stable made a successful undercut on Hülkenberg. In fact, the Japanese Cunoda came back in front of him after his pit stop and gained a more advantageous position. On lap 15, Verstappen had already built up a five-second lead over second-placed Norris.

Three laps later, Mexican Pérez made a driving mistake. Red Bull had chosen an alternative strategy in his case, starting on the hardest set of tyres. This outing, among other things, cost him valuable time with regard to his competitors’ stops.

After lap 25, the drivers at the front of the field pitted. Pérez could thus have helped Red Bull’s final result by delaying the drivers behind him and acting as a human shield. However, the Mexican was soon outpaced by Norris, as well as Leclerc, Sainz and Piastri.

The seventh race of the season didn’t produce many dramatic on-track battles. Hülkenberg and Cunody’s overtaking of Logano Sargeant in the Tamburello section was neat, though. The chicane also saw Sainz overtaking Perez.

The Mexican was subsequently passed by George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, so the Red Bull driver stopped for a medium set of tyres before lap 40. He dropped to eleventh after changing tyres, but gradually worked his way up to eighth.

So how did the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix look after 43 laps? Verstappen led the way ahead of Norris, followed by Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Russell, Hamilton, Pérez, Cunoda and Hülkenberg.

Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna – conclusion

In the final stint, third-placed Leclerc was making significant inroads on second-placed Norris, whose lead he had closed to less than one second. However, the Monegasque made a mistake in the Variante Alta section on lap 47, where he lost half a second. His hopes of taking second place were over.

With about 15 laps to go, the top ten changed only twice in the points standings. Russell dropped to P8 behind Hamilton due to a change to the middle set, with Lance Stroll in ninth. One point for tenth place went to Cunoda.

Second place Norris, thanks to his phenomenal pace, closed the gap to Verstappen to almost six seconds. It was going to be a big battle for the win at the very end of the grand prix. However, the Red Bull driver defended his lead, albeit by only seven tenths of a second.

Source: F1 TV, X