Formula 1: Verstappen drags himself to a hat-trick of wins in Imola

After his shock victory in Imola, Max Verstappen wiped the sweat from his forehead with a white towel. After problems in the final phase with the tires and battery on his Red Bull, the three-time Formula 1 world champion literally dragged himself to the finish, just 0.725 seconds ahead of McLaren’s pursuer Lando Norris.

With great difficulty, Verstappen saved his hat-trick of victory at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at the Ayrton Senna Memorial and groaned his way to his fifth win of the season. “I had to give full throttle throughout the whole race to get a lead. We were pretty strong on the medium tires, but it was more difficult on the hard tires, especially in the last 10 to 15 laps,” said Verstappen, describing a Grand Prix only became more dramatic towards the end. “At some point I ran out of grip and was sliding a lot. I saw that Lando was getting closer. In the last 10 laps I was completely exhausted.”

Verstappen can withstand the mega pressure

But Verstappen showed his master class even under pressure and later euphorically raised the winner’s trophy. To the delight of the Tifosi, Charles Leclerc made it onto the podium in third place at Ferrari’s home race. In the Haas, Nico Hülkenberg narrowly missed out on the points in his Imola debut in eleventh place.

But the focus was on Verstappen and Norris, who was surprisingly beaten by Norris in Miami two weeks ago. “It hurts me to say this, but with one or two laps more I would have had him,” said the McLaren hunter, who was able to gain further self-confidence. “We are now at a point where we can happily say that we are in the position of Ferrari and Red Bull.”

Verstappen in action as a Formula 1 driver and sim racer

Verstappen, who once again took part in a virtual race as a sim racer this weekend, struggled all the way to qualifying. He and Red Bull simply couldn’t get the vehicle set-up right. In the hunt for a starting position, the world champion team was right there. Verstappen took his seventh pole position of the season, and it was his eighth in all seasons.

Verstappen thus equaled Senna’s record from 1988 and 1989. “It’s something very special because it’s been 30 years since he died. I’m very happy to get pole position here,” said Verstappen after the 39th pole of his career and then confidently led the field for a long time.

“It’s difficult when the tires no longer work and you have to drive at full throttle. I couldn’t afford to make many mistakes, luckily we didn’t make any,” said Verstappen with relief after crossing the finish line. “That was a really strong ride,” praised Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. Motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said: “An incredible performance from Max, who drove absolutely flawlessly.”

Vettel’s memorial drive with Senna’s last McLaren

Sebastian Vettel provided emotional moments even before the start, remembering Senna, who died in Imola on May 1, 1994, with a show drive. The four-time world champion, who retired at the end of 2022, drove a McLaren MP4/8 that he owned. Senna drove this car before moving to Williams and celebrated his last Grand Prix victory in it in 1993.

When the red lights went out, Hülkenberg got off to a strong start. He improved from tenth place by two places. The start is one of the few opportunities to make up ground in Imola.

At the front, Verstappen completed consistent lap times, almost like a metronome. After around a quarter of the 63 laps, the Dutchman was already five seconds ahead of Norris, who in turn had the two Ferrari drivers Leclerc and Carlos Sainz breathing down his neck.

Red Bull fends off a McLaren attack

McLaren went on the offensive and brought Norris into the pits early on lap 23. But the move didn’t work. The Englishman returned to the track in seventh place with fresh tires, directly behind Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. Two laps later, Verstappen got new tires. In fourth place, ahead of Norris, he drove his car back. Meanwhile, Hülkenberg was stuck in 13th position.

The highlights on the asphalt remained rare – not least at the front. There, Verstappen set the pace for a long time in the style of a worthy three-time world champion. After two thirds of the race distance, the 26-year-old was more than six seconds ahead of Norris. The McLaren star had to defend himself against Leclerc, but the Monegasque lost valuable time when he slipped on the grass.

In the final phase, Verstappen increased the pulse rate. “My tires don’t work,” he complained over the radio to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. The lead over Norris melted and melted. Then the Red Bull battery almost ran out of juice – but Verstappen saved himself across the finish line.