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Three-time world champion and series leader Max Verstappen returned to winning ways on Sunday when he resisted a late charge by Lando Norris to take a dramatic victory for Red Bull at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
After being beaten in Miami, where friend and rival Norris claimed his maiden victory for McLaren, the Dutchman resisted him to come home 0.725 seconds ahead of the Briton who mounted a rousing final attack in vain.
Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari ahead of Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren, Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
Sergio Perez was eighth in the second Red Bull ahead of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and RB's Yuki Tsunoda, in his Faenza-based team's home event.
Verstappen's hard-earned win, after a difficult two days of practice, was his third at Imola, his fifth of the season and the 59th of his career, lifting him 48 points clear of Leclerc in the drivers' title race.
"We did a great race considering how it started and I had to work hard for that," admitted Verstappen. "The whole race I pushed flat out to make a gap.
"I felt quite strong on mediums, but on the hards, it was more difficult to manage and the last 15 laps I had no grip and I was sliding a lot.
"I could see him behind me and I am super-happy to win here today."
Norris said: "It's frustrating! This feels more painful. It hurts me to say so, but with one or two more laps I think I'd have had him."
Leclerc, whose podium finish for Ferrari in their heartland was acclaimed by masses of tifosi, said: "At least a podium! Of course, I wanted to win and I didn't make it.
"They were incredibly quick at the end, but it's looking good for us for the rest of the season. Monaco is going to be special."
- 'I'm pushing' -On a very warm Spring day all but Perez began on medium tyres, the Mexican choosing 'hards' to go long after a desultory qualifying left him 11th on the grid.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso started from the pitlane after late suspension changes while Piastri was fifth, penalised from second for obstructing Kevin Magnussen on Saturday.
As the lights went out, Verstappen surged clear while behind him Hamilton and Perez made up places during an incident-free opening as the world champion built an early advantage.
Verstappen's relentless pace took him five seconds clear by lap 16 ahead of Norris who led Leclerc by 1.3 with Sainz fourth, resisting Piastri. The Mercedes' pair were sixth and seventh ahead of Perez.
Russell was the first of the leading group to pit after 21 laps, having complained his tyres were shot.
Norris was next in on lap 23, coming out behind Perez, followed by Piastri and then Verstappen, on lap 25, shortly after the Dutchman was shown a black-and-white flag for exceeding track limits. One more offence would bring a five second penalty.
Verstappen re-joined fourth behind Leclerc, Sainz and Hamilton with Norris behind him, having passed Perez, before Leclerc pitted and Sainz inherited the lead briefly before pitting with Hamilton, who had run off at Acque Minerali.
This left Verstappen back on top at half-distance with a lead of 6.2 seconds on Norris, Leclerc and Piastri.
Having eased off to preserve his tyres, Norris mounted a late charge and trimmed Verstappen's lead on successive laps to put him under intense pressure.
With seven laps to go, he was only two seconds adrift and closing in.
"I'm pushing as hard as I can mate," said Norris on team radio when encouraged to hunt a second victory.
Hard as he tried to turn the screw Verstappen scraped home on the day Formula One remembered the late great Ayrton Senna, who died in a crash at the circuit three decades ago.
19 May 16:32
VERSTAPPEN WINS!
Max Verstappen wins a very entertaining Italian GP at Imola.
Lando Norris put up a fight for the ages, pushing as hard as he could in closing ground on the world champion, but he just couldn't get within DRS range quickly enough.
In the end, Norris finished about 0.7 seconds behind Verstappen in a cracking finish.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was solid for his 3rd, while the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri came home 4th.
Results:
1. Max Verstappen
2. Lando Norris
3. Charles Leclerc
4. Oscar Piastri
5. Carlos Sainz
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. George Russell
8. Sergio Perez
9. Lance Stroll
10. Yuki Tsunoda
19 May 16:24
Lap 60/63
Max is 1.8 seconds ahead of Norris, who looks like he might be out of puff now.
Has Verstappen survived the onslaught?
19 May 16:17
Lap 54/63
Norris now just 3.3 seconds behind Verstappen, who reckons his tires are struggling!
Still a few laps to go and we could be on for something here!
19 May 16:09
Lap 49/63
Great response from Norris (2nd), who has now restored a 2.5 sec lead over Leclerc in 3rd.
He is now 5.7 seconds behind Max in 1st.
19 May 16:03
Lap 44/63
Leclerc is flying and is now just 0.5 seconds behind Norris in 2nd. That's turning into a great battle!
19 May 15:59
Lap 40/63
With the first and probably only pit stop run now done, the field is settling a bit.
Max now 7 second ahead of Norris in 2nd and Leclerc just 1.5 secs behind him.
Still a lot of racing left here!
19 May 15:49
Lap 33/63
Well, Max's lead over Norris is still just over 6 seconds, so the McLaren is holding on.
Piastri (4th) is still flying, and is closing on Leclerc in 3rd.
Meanwhile, Lewis went on a little trip to the beach ...
19 May 15:41
Lap 27/63
And Piastri leapfrogs Sainz after the first round of pit stops!
Superb tactical play from McLaren, with the Aussie now up to 4th
19 May 15:36
Lap 25/63
Max Pits, so the Ferraris are now leading the Italian Grand Prix. Just for now...
19 May 15:35
Lap 24/63
Okay, both McLarens have pitted now. So the Ferrari's are P2 and P3 behind Max.
19 May 15:31
Lap 20/63
Max Verstappen doing Max Verstappen things, now over 6 seconds ahead of Norris in 2nd.
Piastri, meanwhile, still can't get past Sainz in 4th despite being within a second of him.
19 May 15:19
Lap 12/63
Piastri is now right behind Sainz in the battle for 4th. McLaren seems to have far more pace in this particular contest.
19 May 15:12
Lap 6/63
Still no change to the top six from the start of the race, and Verstappen has built up a 2 second lead over Norris.
Good battle developing between the two Mercedes with Russell 6th and Hamilton 7th.
19 May 15:05
CLEAN START
No incidents on opening lap. Verstappen holds off Norris, and they're P1 and P2.
The Ferraris are still P3 and P4, while Hamilton is up to 7th behind Russell in 6th.
19 May 14:59
Welcome to our live updates for today's Italian Grand Prix at Imola!
We're just a few minutes away from the start.
Reminder of the grid:
1. Verstappen
2. Norris
3. Leclerc
4. Sainz
5. Piastri
6. Russell
7. Tsunoda
8. Hamilton
9. Ricciardo
10. Hulkenberg
18 May 21:38
Piastri docked three grid places at Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
McLaren's Australian driver Oscar Piastri has been relegated from second to fifth on the grid for Sunday's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix for impeding Haas's Kevin Magnussen during qualifying.
The penalty means Piastri's McLaren teammate Lando Norris, winner last time out in Miami, starts on the front row alongside championship leader Max Verstappen, on pole for Red Bull.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari now leads up the second row alongside stablemate Carlos Sainz while Piastri lines up on the third row with George Russell of Mercedes.
- AFP
18 May 17:19
Verstappen matches Senna pole record at Imola
Max Verstappen secured his eighth consecutive pole position in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on Saturday to equal the record of Ayrton Senna.
The Red Bull three-time world champion's dominance in qualifying drew him level with Senna's run of eight poles, poignantly three decades after the late great Brazilian's tragic death at the Italian circuit in 1994.
Oscar Piastri's McLaren will start alongside the unstoppable Dutchman on Sunday after posting the second fastest time in a tight qualifying session.
The Australian's teammate Lando Norris, winner last time out in Miami, posted the third best time to fill the second row alongside the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari will set off on the third row with the Mercedes of George Russell for company.
Yuki Tsunoda's RB, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Daniel Ricciardo (RB), and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) rounded out the top 10.
The glaring absentee from the first five rows was the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who went out in the second qualifying session, the Mexican muttering "what a mess" on the team radio.
Verstappen leads Perez by 33 points in the drivers' standings ahead of this first race of the season in Europe.
- AFP
18 May 17:03
Verstappen goes even quicker with a time of 1:14.746. Verstappen grabs his seventh pole from seven.
It's a McLaren two-three as Piastri goes second which drops Norris to third
18 May 16:54
18 May 16:42
Verstappen goes top, Sainz goes sixth which pushes Ricciardo to p10
And Perez is knocked out!
18 May 16:40
Two minutes to go!
Tsunoda in the pits feeling safe in P2, while Leclerc and Sainz are both on fresh tyres.
Here are the five drivers at risk: 11 - Russell, 12 - Gasly, 13 - Ocon, 14 - Stroll, 15 - Albon
18 May 16:33
What a lap!
Leclerc sets a lap of 1:15.328 and Tsunoda gets close to that - he goes second by 0.030s. Verstappen is now third, ahead of Piastri, Norris and Sainz.
18 May 16:30
Q2 underway and here we go again!
Despite a very scrappy final corner, Verstappen goes quick with a 1:15.386 for the Dutchman - half a second ahead of his teammate with Hulkenberg going into third.
18 May 16:21
18 May 16:18
Here are the drivers at risk with three minutes left!
16 - Magnussen, 17 - Alonso, 18 - Hulkenberg, 19 - Zhou, 20 - Sargeant
18 May 16:16
18 May 16:12
18 May 14:36
Piastri on top at Imola as McLaren lead Ferrari in final practice
Oscar Piastri topped the times ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in Saturday’s incident-filled third and final practice ahead of this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Australian outpaced the Briton by three-tenths of a second ahead of both Ferraris as two crashes – involving Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Red Bull's Sergio Perez – brought out red flags.
George Russell of Mercedes was fifth in the second Aston Martin, ahead of Red Bull's struggling three-time world champion Max Verstappen, Alex Albon of Williams, Alpine's Esteban Ocon, and Lance Stroll. Nico Hulkenberg was 10th for Haas.
In a disrupted but dramatic session it was evident that Red Bull were unable to reproduce their normal dominating form, offering the prospect of a straight scrap between the McLaren and Ferrari teams in qualifying later Saturday.
Perez's late shunt at the Variante Alta led to a late scramble for drivers to set a fast lap time. Norris, upbeat after his maiden win in Miami two weeks ago, showed confidence to produce an improved time.
Verstappen was among those unable to find a quick qualifying-style lap in the final minutes of a confusing session. Several drivers were involved in entanglements that left many frustrated.
- AFP
17 May 18:42
Leclerc shines on bright day in the sun for Ferrari at Imola
Charles Leclerc shone in the sunshine as he completed a double top for Ferrari on Friday, dominating both free practice sessions ahead of this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Monegasque driver made the most of his heavily revised package while championship leader and three-time champion Max Verstappen struggled for his usual Red Bull performance.
Leclerc clocked a best lap in one minute and 15.906 seconds to ease 0.192 clear of nearest rival Oscar Piastri of McLaren with RB's Yuki Tsunoda snatching third in a closely-bunched pack at the front of the field.It signalled a successful first day for Leclerc's partnership with new race engineer Bryan Bozzi.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth ahead of team-mate George Russell and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari, leaving an exasperated Verstappen back in seventh ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
Nico Hulkenberg was ninth for Haas and two-time champion Fernando Alonso 10th for Aston Martin on a day when most drivers had struggles with the windy conditions.
Verstappen went off and detoured through gravel traps three times in all while Hamilton and Sainz were also seen spinning and taking unscheduled excursions.
Earlier, on a beautiful, dry sunlit afternoon at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Verstappen swiftly took control with a lap in 1:16.930 - a major improvement after his earlier struggles in FP1 - to go top ahead of Norris, Leclerc and Sainz.
"Yeah, much better," he reported to engineer Tom Hart, who had taken over from Gianpiero Lambiase for the day. "A lot better on this tyre now.
Seeking to shine at his team's true 'home' circuit, just 50 kilometres from their Maranello base, Leclerc went top after 14 minutes for Ferrari, on mediums, and then improved by trimming his time to 1:15.969 on softs.
That lifted him half a second clear of Sainz, his team-mate, to the joy of most of the impressive Friday crowd of 'tifosi' enjoying the red cars' performance.
After half of the hour's action, Piastri went second, splitting the Ferraris with a lap just 0.129 seconds off Leclerc's pace before Russell went third, making it three different teams at the front - and Red Bull struggling to join them.
At this stage, Verstappen was sixth and Perez seventh before improvements from Tsunoda and Hamilton pushed them further down the order.
"My god, I don't know man. It's so difficult. Everything. This time, suddenly, the front grips a lot and I almost spin," exclaimed Verstappen as he gesticulated at a dawdling Hamilton.
For the champion, it was a day to forget, but Red Bull have shown many times that they have the resources to bounce back on Saturday and make a significant improvement in qualifying ahead of Sunday's race.
- AFP
19 May