Max Verstappen wins ahead of Pérez at Imola, Charles Leclerc at fault

Max Verstappen started in pole position for this fourth round of the season after his victory in the final laps of the sprint race this Saturday. The Dutchman found Charles Leclerc on the first line. The day before, the pilot Red Bull had experienced difficulty getting out of his position, surprised by the Monegasque who found himself in the lead at the first corner. For this return match, it was the Dutchman who retained his advantage when the lights went out in an eventful start.

The rain could be the disruptive element of this race at Imola, as was the case in qualifying on Friday or during the previous edition of the Grand Prix in 2021. Downpours of water fell on the circuit at the start of afternoon. If the rain had stopped, all the drivers chose to start as intermediates. The two Ferraris did not start correctly and were overtaken. Charles Leclerc was surprised by Sergio Pérez and Lando Norris while Carlos Sainz was hung by Daniel Ricciardo at the first chicane. The Spaniard could not restart and was forced to retire for the second time in two Grands Prix, his first two with the Team. Mick Schumacher also made a mistake in this area, without consequences for him, but not for Fernando Alonso. The German actually damaged the right pontoon of theAlpine in this figure and it stood out from the car French a few laps later, synonymous with a second retirement in this race in less than ten laps.

New difficult race for Hamilton

The Safety Car, deployed to evacuate Sainz's Ferrari, moved away at the end of the fourth lap. After several loops, Charles Leclerc finally found the opening on Norris at the first corner on the eighth lap. The Monegasque now had to close the gap on the two Red Bulls who were at the front. Behind, Kevin Magnussen and George Russell had the best operation of this start by finding themselves in the fight for fifth place. The Dane ardently defended his position, but the Briton had the last word. Valtteri Bottas took advantage of this battle to get closer and in turn double the Haas for sixth place.

The track was drying and each driver was looking for the best trajectories to continue feeding their intermediates with the water still present in certain places. Ricciardo, who started last after his mishap, was the first to try the slicks by putting on medium tires on the 17th lap, followed by a Sebastian Vettel which appeared in the points. The German also stood out as a medium. Leclerc had caught up with Pérez and Red Bull stopped the Mexican, the first of the leaders to try the yellow tires. This launched the first wave of stops in the peloton. Verstappen, Leclerc and Norris were the last to follow suit. Early termination of Czech allowed him to capitalize on his heated tires to overtake the championship leader and regain second position, behind the Dutchman. The rankings remained frozen until halfway through the race. DRS was finally authorized on the 34th of 63 laps. The 40th offered an incongruous scene with a blue flag presented to Hamilton to get out of the way in front of Max Verstappen. The seven-time world champion was stuck in another difficult race, stuck in 14th place behind Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon.

ALSO READ > Hamilton: “The car doesn't seem to want to go fast”

Charles Leclerc loses the podium

Ferrari attempted a strategic move by once again stopping Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque came out on soft tires with 14 laps to go. Problem: the No. 16 found itself behind Lando Norris. Red Bull took the opportunity to cover with Sergio Pérez and the Austrian team's quick stop allowed them to come out in front. Leclerc easily cleared Norris while Verstappen stopped in turn. On the attack, Leclerc made a mistake and damaged his front wing! Norris took advantage while Leclerc lost a lot of time by stopping in the pits a third time. The championship leader fell to eighth place and was even overtaken by Magnussen, a place he quickly regained. The pilot of the Team was trying to limit the damage to the championship by overtaking Sebastian Vettel for seventh place, then Yuki tsunoda for the sixth.

Max Verstappen confirmed his pole position by winning quietly, despite a few drops of rain at the end of the race. Sergio Pérez took second place to give Red Bull its first double since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix which Daniel Ricciardo won ahead of Verstappen. Lando Norris completed an unexpected podium for McLaren. George Russell, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel, Kevin Magnussen and Lance stroll finished in the points. After three weekends at the back of the grid, Aston Martin thus scored its first points of the season with its two drivers.

In the championship, Max Verstappen now has 59 points after a record weekend where he pocketed maximum points in the sprint race and the Grand Prix, with the best lap as a bonus, for a total of 34 units. The outgoing champion thus returns to 27 lengths behind Charles Leclerc before the next round of the season. See you on April 8 for the first Miami Grand Prix in history.