Verstappen fought and beat the champion against Norris at Imola

Max Verstappen won the 2024 F1 Emilia-Romagna GP at Imola this Sunday after sweating profusely in a final that was more complicated than expected against a Lando Norris who absolutely shined. Max did most of his homework the day before, at the crucial moment of the weekend, in qualifying, with a great pole. And this Sunday, the three-time world champion achieved victory in Imola, at Ferrari’s house, only suffering at the end against Norris (2nd) due to the bigger tire damage suffered by the Dutchman. while, Leclerc (3rd) saved the podium for ‘typhoid‘Italians.

In the fight for victory, there is no story until a final script twist that few expect. An attack by Lando Norris, who came within 1.6 of a Verstappen who seemed to have everything under control from the start But McLaren reached the level of red bull. Max doesn’t walk anymore. The orange team is close and depending on the circuit, both McLaren and Ferrari can take victories from the current king. It didn’t happen at Imola, but at least the Dutchman had to work hard.

At Imola it is very difficult to overtake unless you have younger tires. In even conditions, nothing should be done. And so, on a day when a train strike was announced in Bologna, Sunday’s event became a real car train until those final laps. One of the worst races of the year until Lando’s desperate attempt.

This is Imola. Exciting in one lap, a challenge for all drivers, a track that leaves no room for error because at the smallest moment you can go to the gravel and destroy your car. But in racing it is one of the circuits where it is the hardest to overtake. Soccer without a goal. A tennis rally without winning points. There is nothing more than the need to survive a complex track and manage the tires well to see the finish line. That’s what Verstappen focused on in a boring race except for that moment of final suspense. It culminated in Verstappen’s 59th victory in Formula 1 at the age of 26.

The Dutchman had the luxury of spending part of the night competing in a 24-hour simulator race at his hotel, with victory, completing his assigned stints, and then going to the circuit and winning. And he did it by withstanding Lando’s final pressure like the champion he is. Excellent. Verstappen failed in Miami. But the king did not fail twice in a row.

Last fight in Norris attack

Max stayed though with great concern not to push the limits of the track any further. In the remaining 39 laps they showed him the black and white flag for overtaking them too many times. Because of this, and because Norris was less than 5 seconds away from finishing the race, he couldn’t afford to make a mistake.

Norris got better control of the tires and continued to attack. With 8 laps remaining, it was noticeable how much Norris was cutting into Verstappen. And with 6 laps to go, Lando is only 1.6″. A seemingly calm and composed victory for Verstappen can be complicated at the last moment. The orange fans of Imola are starting to get nervous. Norris is climbing the walls, attacking to the maximum and taking many risks “I’m driving to the maximum,” said the Briton, but in the end he was unable to fight Max in hand-to-hand combat.

Sainz lost his position

In a race where overtaking is so expensive, if there’s one thing you shouldn’t do, it’s lose strategy positions because you can’t get them back. Whatever you do, you must do it strong and safe. Bet on that card and go for it. And there, Ferrari shot itself in the foot.

Carlos Sainz lost 4th place to Piastri for not defending himself from the undercut in the pits thrown at him by the Australian. They did not stop the Spaniard in the following lap and did nothing. In any case, the speed of the McLaren in the end was higher and Carlos said that he had aerodynamic and mechanical problems. He couldn’t do anything.

Fernando Alonso, pure test race (19th)

Fernando Alonso warned on Saturday, after a day of forgetting where he finished 19th in the classification with damage to his car, that in today’s race he has no chance of scoring points. “It’s harder to overtake than Singapore,” he highlighted. And he was right. For this reason, the race was taken more as a pure test to continue studying and collecting important data from the new components presented by Aston Martin at Imola.

Because of this, the Spaniard chose to start from the pit lane to test different settings and things that will help him at least learn from his new aerodynamic package for the next races. And that’s what he focused on. He also tried a different strategy, starting soft and stopping first, on lap 7, to try to go for a stop in search of a ‘safety car’ that would allow him to progress. But in the end, the tire wear is greater than expected and he has to change his plan. He finished where he started, in 19th place.

The most positive thing for him and Aston Martin is that in a few days they will be in Monaco, where they will try to forget what happened in Italy with, theoretically, more news on their car and more certainty.