VERSTAPPEN WINS IN IMOLA AS RED BULL CELEBRATE 400 RACES

Formula One began the European leg of the calendar in Imola for Round Seven at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. A weekend that was initially dominated by the McLaren drivers but it was Max Verstappen in the race who showed his pace and dominated from the start. It was second and third for the McLaren drivers Norris and Piastri who will fight hard for every point in this title battle. It won't be remembered as a classic this race as F1 prepares for a possible goodbye to such an infamous track.

It looked initially as though it was Oscar Piastri who got away best but the ever present Max Verstappen in the Red Bull gets ahead into turn one. George Russell moved up to third and Lando Norris holds fourth and Fernando Alonso holding fifth.

Then nothing of note really happens apart from the first round of pit stops which shuffles the pack a little but with it being a two stop race the order after the first pits isn't definitive.

Then after just twenty nine laps the Haas of Esteban Ocon gives up and the Frenchman who has struggled all weekend is forced to pull over on the side of the track and is out of the race. This causes the deployment of the VSC (Virtual Safety Car). The green flag was shown on lap thirty one.

The next real drama came as home hero Kimi Antonelli is forced to pull up and stop at the side of the track after forty six laps. This time the Stewards release the full Safety Car which is deployed.

After a lengthy stint behind the Safety Car on lap fifty four we get the green flag and it was Verstappen again who got away well ahead of the two McLaren’s with just nine laps left in this race.

It was a solid race for the two Ferrari's in their home race who collect good points to take back to Maranello and also for the Williams of Alex Albon who for a few laps looked like he could be on for a possible podium as its a sixth points finish for the Thai driver.

The next race is the Monaco Grand Prix.

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