Verstappen Wins at Imola: Red Bull Celebrates 400th Grand Prix
Max Verstappen achieved his second win of the 2025 F1 season at the Imola Grand Prix, showcasing a powerful performance. The race's outcome was heavily influenced by the timings of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) and Full Safety Car periods. Drivers such as Verstappen, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, and Isack Hadjar made strategic decisions that worked in their favor, while polesitter Oscar Piastri faced difficulties. Norris narrowed the championship gap by overtaking Piastri on lap 58 and securing second place.
Verstappen made a decisive move at the very start of the race, getting ahead of Piastri at Turn 2 and quickly building a lead.
McLaren opted for an early pit stop with Piastri on Lap 14, while Verstappen chose to stay on track. This decision backfired after Esteban Ocon had to stop on Lap 29, resulting in a VSC that allowed those who hadn't pitted, including Verstappen, to change tires without losing much time. When he rejoined, Verstappen led by around 20 seconds.
The race was neutralized again when Kimi Antonelli suffered a throttle issue and stopped on Lap 46, leading to a Safety Car deployment. Verstappen, however, managed the restart excellently and crossed the finish line with a lead of 6.109 seconds.
Lewis Hamilton had a tough qualifying, starting in P12, but worked his way up to finish fourth. Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon battled for fifth place, with Albon making a late move on the last lap, continuing a strong day for Williams. George Russell took seventh for Mercedes, followed closely by Carlos Sainz from Williams. Isack Hadjar ended the race in ninth after a strategy similar to Verstappen's, while Yuki Tsunoda secured the last points position after a strong recovery from the pit lane.
Piastri's championship lead has been cut down to just 13 points ahead of Norris, while Verstappen is now only nine points behind Norris.
The next race on the calendar is the Monaco Grand Prix, where drivers will be required to make two pit stops.
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