Max Verstappen navigated a late safety car masterfully, fending off the threat of Lando Norris to secure his second win of the season at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri crossed the line in third, rounding out a disappointing Sunday for the championship lead.
After a tentative start, Verstappen looked to be under threat from George Russell behind, but with Piastri crowding the inside line, the Dutchman turned defence into attack. He launched around the outside of the pole-sitter at Turn One with a daring late-braking manoeuvre, and emerged from the corner with the lead of the race.
After a few laps of pressure, Norris made the move on Russell to snatch third, and mere laps later, Piastri came in for a pit stop in an undercut attempt on the Red Bull man out front. However, this tactical call backfired, and the championship leader came out with considerable traffic in front of him.
By the time Piastri had filtered through the cars on older tyres ahead of him, the gap to Verstappen was still at 32 seconds – the same as when he exited the pit lane over 15 laps beforehand. Norris came in for his stop on lap 29, but luck was not shining down on the Brit, as the virtual safety car came out just one lap later.
The VSC played right into Verstappen’s hands. The four-time world champion emerged from the pit lane with a gap of over 20 seconds to Norris, with Piastri dropping to fourth, behind Williams’ Alex Albon. Unfortunately for the Thai-British racer, his grip on the podium was relinquished with 23 laps remaining.
