Photo Credit: Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen beats Norris to the finish line in the Imola Grand Prix.
The 2024 Emilia Romanga Grand Prix, an event long anticipated after the cancellation in 2023. All the top three teams demonstrated the capacity to win the race throughout the weekend.
The McLaren of Oscar Piastri would have been on pole if not for Verstappen gaining a tow from Hulkenburg. Unfortunately, he started down in 5th because of a 3 place grid penalty.
The Tifosi eagerly awaiting a Ferrari on the top step. Especially with the performance gain seen through the recent upgrades. They lined up third and fourth on the grid.
Max Verstappen on Pole and Lando Norris alongside, the cars approach the grid boxes ready for the race start.
The Race Start
The lights went out and the cars dove into turn one. All the cars made a clean getaway, Max managing the hold on to the lead, immediately pulling a gap to Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. Tsunoda lost two places in the start sitting in P9.
By Lap 3, the DRS from Verstappen to Norris is broken, with just over a second between them. Leclerc also fell out of Norris DRS, only 1.2 seconds behind.
Similarly, Piastri edged closer to Sainz in the early laps, well within the DRS of the Spaniard’s Ferrari. Unfortunately, Sainz had the benefit of Leclerc’s DRS, keeping him ahead of Piastri’s McLaren.
On Lap 7, the DRS from Leclerc was broken, leaving Sainz more vulnerable to Piastri, who was then 0.4s behind the Ferrari.
Lap 8, Alonso headed into the pits, taking off the soft tyres and putting on a set of softs. He had a fire on his front left brake as he left the pits. Luckily, the wind put out the flames.
Albon headed into the pits on Lap 9. Unfortunately, he quickly came on the radio, complaining about a tyre not being on properly. He slowly made his way around the track and back into the pits. He came back out a lap down. His unsafe release got him a 10 second stop-and-go penalty.
The Fights Continue
Yuki Tsunoda managed to get ahead of the Haas of Nico Hulkenburg, by undercutting him in the pits. Hulkenberg came out 15th just behind the VCARB of Tsunoda. The Japanese driver continuing on what had been an impressive weekend so far.
On Lap 18, Perez went for a huge ride through the gravel, losing him five seconds down the road, but he stayed in P8.
Lap 22, Verstappen came on the radio complaining about the state of this front left tyres. Russell headed into the pits from sixth. He came out in tenth.
Immediately after, the McLaren of Lando Norris barreled into the pits, with a solid 2.4 second start. However, he came out behind Perez, not what McLaren wanted. Oscar Piastri headed in a lap later, a 2.2 stop. Also coming out behind Stroll and Perez.
After being stuck behind for just a lap, Lando Norris got past Perez, but it was not enough to greatly benefit the Ferraris. Verstappen headed in a slightly slower pit with a 2.6 but still coming out ahead of Norris.
Lap 25, Charles Leclerc headed into the pits, only a 2.8 stop for the Ferrari. He fed out just behind Perez. Lando Norris in the McLaren remains ahead.
Moreover, Leclerc takes Perez down the main straight and Piastri was close behind, diving the inside of the Red Bull into Tamburello.
Further down the grid, Tsunoda makes a daring move down the inside of Logan Sargaent into the chicane. He got past cleanly moving him up to 12th.
Second Half of the Race
In the second half of the race, Piastri began closing in on the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc ahead of him within 0.4 seconds. However, the Ferrari quickly responded, extending the gap to back over a second.
On Lap 36, Lando Norris seemed to complain about having no pace in the McLaren. However, he managed to hold a gap of 3 seconds to Leclerc. The gap in front now 6.3 seconds to Verstappen.
Sergio Perez, who had been doing a strong stint, was up in seventh. Unfortunately, Hamilton closed in and passed him on the straight. Perez was on 38 laps old tyres, running 1.5 seconds slower per lap than the front runners. He pitted that lap onto medium tyres and came out 11th.
By Lap 40, Perez had made his way back up to ninth, breezing past the Haas of Hulkenburg and the VCARB of Daniel Ricciardo. then he set his sights on Tsunoda in eighth place.
Charles Leclerc begun to close the gap to Lando Norris, cutting it down from 2 seconds to 0.8 in just a few laps. Norris complained he doesn’t feel he has the pace, whereas Leclerc seems to have it.
On Lap 47, Leclerc remained in Norris’ DRS after losing it for a lap. The Tifosi urged him on in the stand. However, Leclerc cut the chicane on Lap 48, losing him 0.5 seconds to Norris. The gap then growing to 2 seconds.
15 laps to go
Verstappen held the lead with 6 seconds to Norris. The McLaren extended his gap to the Ferrari to 2.5 seconds. Piastri and Sainz remained comfortably fourth and fifth.
The British McLaren driver suddenly seemed to find some extra pace in the car, reducing the 6 second gap to Verstappen down to 4.5 seconds and closing.
On lap 53, George Russell headed into the pits, putting on a set of mediums for the last ten laps. He came out in front of Perez.
On Lap 55, Lando Norris did a lap 1 second faster than Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Norris brought the gap down to 2 seconds by lap 56.
With 5 laps to go, Lando Norris had the gap down to 1.7 seconds. Verstappen had picked up the pace. However, the win was still within Norris’ sights.
3 laps to go, and Norris was back on the radio complaining about the state of his tyres. The gap was only 1.4 seconds, but with 3 laps left, the British driver didn’t seem to be making the same gains as earlier.
Norris was still pushing, almost heading into the gravel at Villeneuve, just inside of Max Verstappen’s DRS. Verstappen complained about having a low battery.
As the last lap began, Norris trailed Verstappen by 0.7 seconds. The Brit pushing right to the line, but the Dutchman pushing just as hard.
Max Verstappen beats Norris to take the 2024 Imola GP, just 0.725 seconds between them. Charles Leclerc came home third to the cheer of the Tifosi, marking the first Ferrari podium in Imola since 2006, when Schumacher won.
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