Verstappen Defeats Piastri, Norris To Win Italian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen produced a dominant performance to beat Oscar Piastri, and Lando Norris to win the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday.

Verstappen started the race from the second position before producing a stunning move in the opening lap to control the race from out front.

Piastri, who has won four out of the five races of the season, dropped out of contention after he was stuck in traffic to allow Verstappen, and Norris to race clear of him.

Lewis Hamilton also produced a stunning performance from 12th on the grid to take fourth in the first race in Italy for Ferrari.

Alex Albon finished fifth in a second successive race after Charles Leclerc gave him the position back on the final lap.

It was Verstappen’s second win of the season which reduced Piastri’s championship lead over Norris to 13 points from 16.

McLaren extended their lead at the top of the Constructors’ Championship to 132 points.

Verstappen was full of praise for his Red Bull teammates for their impressive performance to mark their 400th F1 race with a win.

He said: “The start itself wasn’t particularly great, but I was still on the outside line, or basically the normal [racing] line, and I was like, ‘Well, I’m just going to try and send it round the outside,’ and it worked really well that, of course, unleashed our pace because once we were in the lead, the car was good.”

Verstappen was pleased with the improvement from the team’s drivers after struggling in the practice race on Friday.

He said: “It’s a massive improvement from Friday and I’m very pleased about that. That virtual safety car was quite handy to pit, even on the hard compound our pace was very strong, but then there was a safety car so the field was back together. Even on the restart we managed it really well and brought it home.

“I’m incredibly proud of everyone, it’s been a very important week for us and the car has performed really well and also I think the execution of the whole race was very good.”

Lando Norris, who finished second in the race, admitted that Verstappen deserved to win in Italy.

He said: “It was a long race, from that perspective it was not easy to overtake but we did what we could. Max drove a good race, they were quick today, probably a little quicker. We had a good little battle at the end between Oscar and myself which was tense, but always good fun.

“A good race. For us as a team, second and third is great. Of course you would love to be up there fighting against Max but they were too good for us today.”

Third-placed Oscar Piastri, blamed his decision to brake early for his poor performance in the race.

He said: “I just braked too early. It was a good move by Max as well. Disappointing obviously but we made a few wrong calls after that anyway.

“Not our best Sunday, so definitely a lot of things to look at and review. Well done to Max and Red Bull. It was a good move and they had pace today.”

Emilia Romagna GP Result: Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull

2) Lando Norris, McLaren

3) Oscar Piastri, McLaren

4) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

5) Alex Albon, Williams

6) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

7) George Russell, Mercedes

8) Carlos Sainz, Williams

9) Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls

10) Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull

Verstappen Defeats Piastri, Norris To Win Italian Grand Prix is first published on The Whistler Newspaper