© Getty Images2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Race ReportMax Verstappen overcame late race tyre wear to hold off Lando Norris and claim a brilliant hat-trick of Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix wins.
MaxVerstappenovercamelateracetyreweartoholdoffLandoNorrisandclaimabrillianthat-trickofEmilia-RomagnaGrandPrixwinslessthanasecondaheadoftheMcLarendriver,withCharlesLeclercthirdforFerrari,asChecoPérezputinabattlingdrivetorisetoeighthplaceattheflagafterstartingfromP11onthegrid.
Max’s fifth victory of 2024 was sealed at the start with Max charging ahead of fellow front-row starter Norris. However, after controlling matters for the bulk of the race, in the final 10 laps the champion’s Hard tyres began to fade. Norris closed in, but though Max was visibly struggling for grip he managed to keep the RB20 on course to power to a 59th career win.
“We had to work for that,” he said. "Anyway we did a great race considering how the weekend started. Yeah, we had to work for that!”
Watch:Max'sReaction
Watch:Checo'sReaction
RaceReport
When the lights went out at the start, Max made a perfect getaway, and though Norris also got away well from P2 to keep the pressure on, Max was able to outdrag the Briton and the champions swept through Tamburello well ahead of the McLaren.
Leclerc held third place ahead of Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri but further back, Checo made a superb start on Hard tyres to muscle his way past RB’s Daniel Ricciardo around the outside into Turn 1. And with a P10 secured, the Mexican settled into a reverse strategy to the rest of the top 10 who began on Medium tyres.
At the front, with clear air ahead, Max began to pull away from Norris and with seven laps on the board the Dutchman was almost two-seconds clear of the McLaren.
Checo, meanwhile, was putting pressure on RB’s Yuki Tsunoda who had dropped to P9 after a slow start that allowed the Haas of Nico Hülkenberg to steal P8 at the start. However, Tsunoda was alive to the challenge from Checo and over the following laps the Japanese driver was able to extend his advantage over the Red Bull driver to over a second.
The Only Way Is Up© Getty Images
The RBs then opted to become the first of the top-10 runners to pit, with Ricciardo switching to Hard tyres and then, a lap later, Tsunoda got out of Checo’s way when he made a similar switch. And when Hülkenberg reacted to the RBs’ stop with his own switch to Hard tyres, the longer-running Mexican swept past to take eighth place on lap 15.
Up front, Max was delivering another masterclass at the front of the pack and by the start of lap 17 the champion had eased to a 5.2s lead over Norris.
At the end of lap 23, Norris made his sole pit stop of the race and after switching to Hard tyres, the McLaren emerged behind Checo. However, with older Hard tyres onboard, the Mexican couldn’t keep the Briton at bay and he surrendered the position at the start of the following lap.
Max then made his pit stop and after a 2.6s switch to Hard tyres he rejoined in fourth place, behind Hamilton and as new leader Leclerc, second-placed team-mate Carlos Sainz and Hamilton cycled through the pit lane for their stops Max once again took the lead, 6.3s ahead of Norris.
Behind the top two Leclerc was again third, but Piastri had undercut the late-stopping Sainz to steal fourth place. Checo, meanwhile, was now in sixth place on starting Hard tyres and with his pace flagging he soon dropped back to eighth behind the Mercedes drivers.
Staying Ahead Of The Pack© Getty Images
At the end of lap 37 Checo at last headed into the pits to move to Medium tyres and though he initially dropped back to his starting position of 11th, the pace advantage afforded by his new Medium tyres allowed him to swiftly reel in the drivers ahead.
On lap 39 he powered past the RB of Ricciardo and a lap later, with aid of DRS, breezed past Hülkenberg on the run to Tamburello. The Mexican’s next target was the second RB of Tsunoda and on lap 43 he again used DRS to steam past the Japanese driver on the pit straight to move up to P8.
At the front, things appeared to be going smoothly for Max but with 10 laps remaining, the radio silence that characterised a controlled march to the flag was suddenly interrupted.
“My tyres don’t work” said the champion and over the following laps a 6.0s gap to Norris crumbled to four and then to two seconds.
Despite the limitations, Max stayed cool and though the gap dropped towards DRS range in the final three laps, the champion wrestled his sliding RB20 to the flag 0.7s clear of the McLaren.
“I had no grip anymore, I was really sliding a lot. I saw Lando closing. So the last 10 laps were just flat out. It's very difficult when the tyres aren't working anymore and you have to go flat out. So I couldn't afford to make too many mistakes. Luckily, we didn't and I'm super happy of course to win here today.”
With Norris second and Leclerc taking the final podium position, fourth place went to Oscar Piastri with the Australian driver finishing ahead of Sainz and the twin Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Checo then swept across the line in P8 to take four points at the end of a good recovery from 11th place at the start. Ninth place went to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the final point was claimed by Tsunoda.
Champagne Showers In Imola© Getty Images
HowTheBullsPerformed
| Rank | Driver | Team | Gap | Points | | 1 | Max Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | - | 25 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.725 | 18 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +7.916 | 15 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +14.132 | 12 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +22.325 | 10 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +35.104 | 8 |
| 7 | George Russell | Mercedes | +47.154 | 6 (+1) |
| 8 | | Oracle Red Bull Racing | +57.776 | 4 |
| 9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +79.556 | 2 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | Visa Cash App RB | +1L | 1 |
