Max Verstappen followed up his pole position on Friday with an important victory for Red Bull in the Sprint Race and ensure a first-place start for Sunday’s race.
A fast starting Charles Leclerc looked to be in control at the Imola circuit after overtaking Verstappen on the opening lap, but the Red Bulls became stronger as the race went on.
It will give them confidence that they can silence the Tifosi on race day and begin to claw back some points in both championships.
Things went from bad to worse for the Silver Arrows as they failed to move up the grid at the speed they would hope. They’re in for a tough day tomorrow with that 20% chance at the title beginning to look ambitious at best.
Bottas and Magnussen put in strong displays for their respective teams bringing home some valuable points and good grid slots for tomorrow.
It was a fast start from the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc as he shot past Max Verstappen off the line.
The Tifosi have been in fine voice all weekend and were sent into raptures as their man took the lead.
Further down the field Perez overtook Ricciardo into the opening corner, while it was a slow start for the Mercedes team – Hamilton falling to 15th.
Zhou Guanyu tried an audacious move around the outside of Piratella on Pierre Gasly.
It was a reckless move from the rookie, giving the Alpha Tauri nowhere to go.
The Alfa Romeo retired bringing out the Safety Car, while Gasly limped back to the pits to give his team the chance to salvage his damaged car.
The race restarted on lap 5, Leclerc bolting early to minimise the slipstream down the back straight.
Alonso looked to be in trouble as his Alpine slid through the corners, Sainz piling on the pressure as he looked to make amends for his error in Friday’s qualifying.
The Ferrari got past at the start of lap 7 – a clean pass around the outside of Tamburello – moving the Spaniard up to seventh place.
Further up the grid, Sergio Perez was starting to make progress.
Magnussen had done well to hold on to fourth after is superb qualifying.
As one of three drivers – the others being his teammate and Nicholas Latifi – starting on the medium compound he didn’t have the pace to keep the Red Bull behind.
Alfa Romeo had shaken off the disappointment of Zhou’s retirement with the rejuvenated Valterri Bottas charging up the field.
He moved up to 9th following a pass on Sebastian Vettel.
Out in front Leclerc continued his dominant start to the season as he eased away from Verstappen, pumping in the fastest laps.
Magnussen started to drop back as the Sprint race went past the half way mark. His medium tyres being ruthlessly exposed by the faster cars around him.
The race settled down as the drivers came up to lap 14 with the Red Bulls second and third, McLaren fourth and fifth.
Sainz didn’t waste any time in breaking the two-by-two format at the front of the grid.
The Ferrari seemed to be on rails as he raced past the first McLaren and set about hunting down Norris in fourth.
He may have made an error on Friday, but Carlos Sainz looked like a man on a mission throughout the Sprint Race.
It was a case of master against the apprentice in the midfield as Mick Schumacher overtook his mentor, Sebastian Vettel for 10th place.
While there’s no points available for 10th in the Sprint, he must’ve had a smile on his face as he flew past the Aston Martin, in another strong showing for the American outfit.
The Red Bulls started to come alive in the closing laps – Ferrari looking like their tyres’ best days were behind them.
It remains to be seen whether this will come back to bite them in the 63-lap race on Sunday.
Verstappen closed to within a second as the red wall looked on nervosuly from the stands.
Imola is a tricky place to overtake, but Verstappen knew the importance of getting past and having track position for the race.
Sainz’s recovery job was complete as he pushed pass Norris to take fourth.
On the penultimate lap Verstappen sensed the opportunity.
He closed up to the Ferrari as they barrelled down to turn 2.
He darted to the right and pulled a brilliant move around the outside switching to the inside line of Variante Tamburello.
A fantastic move by the Dutch man and proof that Charles Leclerc won’t be allowed to run away with this championship.
The Mercedes team suffered another bad day at the office as they failed to make up any progress after their disastrous qualifying session.
Hamilton dropped down to 14th – a place lower than his qualifying postion – while Russell did better to come home in 11th.
They’ll be fighting for the last few points-paying positions tomorrow unless they’re able to find some pace in that car.
Verstappen showed his experience to come home in 1st and win the first Sprint Race of the season.
Charles Leclerc was second, but will have his work cut out with the fast Red Bulls on either side of him tomorrow.
With a few more laps, it’s likely Perez would have been challenging him for second.
Bottas put in a sterling display to finish 7th taking two points for the Alfa Romeo team – they’ll be hoping to get a few more tomorrow.
While Kevin Magnussen did well to make the medium-tyre strategy work taking the final point in 8th.
Maybe they’ll feel that there was more on offer for them today with a less conservative soft-tyre strategy/
It sets us up nicely for a a duel between Red Bull and Ferrari tomorrow.
McLaren will be a factor too with their two drivers taking the third row of the grid.