FÓRMULA-1

Absolute Verstappen in the Ferrari cradle

Max Verstappen delivered a sledgehammer to Ferrari's rival Charles Leclerc at the Emilia Romagna GP. The Dutchman won the race in an extremely dominant fashion, while Leclerc was only sixth after a slip. Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez took second, so it was also a strong day for Red Bull Racing in the constructors' championship.

With his second win of the season, Verstappen climbs to second in the World Cup behind Leclerc. In the two races that the reigning world champion did not win, he retired prematurely. Verstappen closes an almost flawless weekend with his victory over the Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari. The Dutchman took pole position on Friday and won the sprint race a day later after overtaking Leclerc late in the afternoon. In addition, he took an extra point for the fastest lap in the race.

Where Verstappen was surprised by Leclerc at the start of the sprint race, he excelled on Sunday at the wet Imola circuit. Teammate Pérez also started well, overtaking Charles Leclerc, who initially dropped to fourth.

Verstappen continued to lead and also maintained the lead in his two pit stops. In addition, he took advantage of a big mistake by Leclerc, who tried to take Pérez out of second place in the closing moments, but spun on the track and damaged his car.

Monegask had to make an extra stop at Ferrari's home circuit and dropped to ninth. Moving to position six. he kept the damage to a minimum.

Land Norris (McLaren) finished on the podium along with Verstappen and Pérez. George Russell (Mercedes) was fourth and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) fifth. Behind Leclerc (P6), Yuki Tsunoda was seventh at AlphaTauri, followed by Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Lance Stroll (also Aston Martin) rounded out the top ten.

Autonews