Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: Verstappen storms to victory over Norris and Piastri

Verstappen overtook pole-sitter Oscar Piastri on the first lap and controlled the race thereafter, though a safety car due to Kimi Antonelli's retirement threatened his lead.

The Dutchman had moved over 20 seconds in front of Piastri and Lando Norris, with the safety car then lasting for six laps as the field closed up for the final part of the race.

But a fine restart from Verstappen allowed him to break free from the chasing pack, while Norris, on much fresher tyres than his team-mate, passed Piastri for second.

There was also a fine turnaround for Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who started 12th after a nightmare qualifying in Imola yet crossed the line in fourth position.

Charles Leclerc was on course to finish behind his team-mate, but a late battle with Alex Albon saw the Williams take fifth place ahead of the Monegasque.

FULL SENDDD!! MAX WINS IN IMOLAAA!!#ImolaGP || @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/p38eqxjQIf

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 18, 2025

The opening lap saw Verstappen launch an audacious move around the outside of Piastri, breaking late into Turn One and emerging from the corner with the lead of the race.

After a few laps of pressure, Norris made the move on George Russell to snatch third, before Piastri came in for a pit stop in an undercut attempt on Verstappen.

However, McLaren's 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, the gap to Verstappen was still at 32 seconds - the same as when he exited the pit lane over 15 laps earlier.

Norris came in for his stop on lap 29, but that move did not work either, as the virtual safety car came out just one lap later after an issue with the Haas of Esteban Ocon.

That allowed four-time champion Verstappen to come in for his first pit stop, emerging from the pit lane with a gap of 20 seconds to Norris, while Piastri dropped to fourth.

A full safety car was then deployed when Antonelli's Mercedes stopped in exactly the same place as Ocon had.

This time, Verstappen and Norris stopped for fresh tyres and Piastri did not, and that put Norris back behind Piastri but on tyres that were 16 laps fresher.

McLaren allowed the pair to battle for three laps before Norris finally swept through into the first chicane with five laps to go, though Verstappen was out of reach.

An incredible fightback from our boys today pic.twitter.com/zQ9upGHf1Y

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) May 18, 2025

Having failed to win a race since the Japanese Grand Prix, Verstappen showed his title credentials with an impressive drive to get his title bid back on track in Imola.

Indeed, Verstappen has now won each of the last four races at Imola, becoming the first driver in F1 history to win four consecutive editions at this circuit.

The 27-year-old has also achieved the feat in Abu Dhabi (between 2020 and 2023) and Japan (between 2022 and 2025).

And Verstappen ensured it was a special day for Red Bull, who became only the seventh team to contest in 400 grands prix.

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 2. Lando Norris (McLaren) 3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 5. Alex Albon (Williams) 6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 7. George Russell (Mercedes) 8. Carlos Sainz (Williams) 9. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) 10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 146 2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 133 3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 124