Max-imum haul
Imola win deserved, says Verstappen as Leclerc pays for mistake
MAX VERSTAPPEN was delighted to pick up the maximum points on offer at Imola last weekend after dominating the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from start to finish. It proved to be the perfect weekend for Red Bull in their fight with Ferrari as Verstappen won Saturday’s sprint before taking the chequered flag on Sunday.
The Dutchman had to be wary of Charles Leclerc from the start, but the Ferrari driver had a slow start which saw Sergio Perez move up into second on the first lap.
Ferrari’s day was made even worse when Carlos Sainz’s race came to an early end after he was pushed off the track by Daniel Ricciardo in a racing incident.
Still, Leclerc was keeping pace with the Red Bulls and had a few opportunities to overtake Perez and move up to second. But disaster struck for Leclerc as he attempted to get into DRS range of Perez on lap 54, spinning into the wheel and damaging his front wing.
The championship leader was forced to pit and came out in ninth before battling to finish sixth.
All the while, Verstappen was enjoying a relatively comfortable ride at the front of the pack before crossing the line for his second win of the season.
Following his win in the sprint on Saturday as well as the fastest lap on Sunday, Verstappen walked away from Imola with the maximum 34 points.
Leclerc’s sixth-placed finish to go along with second on Saturday means he only picks up 15, giving Verstappen a huge jump up the standings.
With Perez finishing just behind him, Verstappen feels it was the perfect weekend for Red Bull all around.
“It’s always tough to achieve something like that,” he said. “Today (Sunday) and the day before (Saturday), we were on it and it was looking like a strong weekend.
“But you never know with the weather how competitive you’re going to be but I think as a team we did everything well and I think this one-two is well deserved.
“The start was important but afterwards judging the conditions and when to swap to the slick tyres. In the lead you have to dictate the pace and it’s always a bit difficult initially but everything was well managed.”
Perez also moves up in the standings following back-to-back second-place finishes and the Red Bull driver feels the team are heading in the right direction.
“It was really intense! The fight since halfway through the race we were fighting, then it was all under control but then they start chasing us again with the stop and it was the fight again and to warm up the tyres,” Perez said.
“The most important thing today is to not (make) mistakes, because with these conditions it was so tricky out there to get a 1 2 in these conditions.
“I think it is a great result for the team… I am happy for Max.”