Max Verstappen won the fourth F1 race of the season. Red Bull took a double win when Sergio Perez was second. McLaren’s Lando Norris rose to third when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc made a driving error and spun.
24.4. 17:47 • Updated April 24th. 18:22
Max Verstappen has won the fourth Formula One race of the season, which was run on the traditional Imola motorway in Italy. The Red Bull team’s reigning world champion took his first win of the season.
The weekend was perfect for the Dutchman, who also won time trials on Friday and a sprint race on Saturday. So a full 34 points for Verstappen this weekend.
Ferrarin Charles Leclerc and Red Bull Sergio Perez fought for second for a long time until Leclerc struggled badly ten laps before the checkered flag.
In the end, Perez was second and McLaren Lando Norris third.
Sainz out again, Bottas survived in fright
The drivers went to the race with intermediate tires because the track was wet. It had been raining in Imola all day, but the rain had time to stop before the race. Verstappen got the best start from the pole position and held the top position.
Instead, the top name in the World Cup, Leclerc, who started in the second box, got a weak start. Perez and Norris passed the Monaco.
For Ferrari’s second driver Carlos Sainzille the race became the second consecutive disaster. In the last race in Australia, Sainz drove out due to his own driving error. Now he crashes McLaren Daniel Ricciardon with, again an interruption. The jury considered the situation a normal race event and did not distribute penalties.
Sainz said after the race he gave enough space to Ricciardo behind. The Spaniard said it was his turn to suffer another driving error.
Started from the seventh box Valtteri Bottas hit Ricciardo after the situation, but survived in fright when the car was not damaged.
The drivers ventured to the depot to pick up dry road tires after about 20 laps and the track was dry enough.
Changing the tires did not change the setup at the top. Verstappen was allowed to widen the lead when teammate Perez was able to keep Leclerc behind him.
Mercedes George Russell rose from box 11 to as many as the top six in the start, but Lewis Hamilton stuck in 14th place A descriptive situation was seen after 41/63 laps: Verstappen overtook Hamilton on the lap.
– Turn the formula into ones. A certain kind of dominance has been broken at the latest with this bypass, painted in Viaplay’s narrator Niki Juusela.
Leclerc shook the wall, Bottas fought Russell
The race seemed to be the dullest and poorest of events this season, but there was still a big turnaround after 54/63 laps. Leclerc made a driving mistake, spun, hit the wall and broke his front wing. Leclerc had to go to the depot, and he fell as high as nine.
So a huge disappointment for Ferrari in front of the home crowd in Imola, and at the same time the worst competitor, Red Bull, took the maximum points. As Leclerc spun, the crash of Imola’s more than 100,000-headed auditorium even shocked him via television. In the final rounds, Leclerc improved his ranking by a few notches, eventually finishing sixth.
In the end, the most fascinating battle was then seen from the fourfold. Bottas chased the last rounds of Russell.
Russell was able to keep the Finn behind him until the checkered flag with a difference of 0.6 seconds. For Bottas, however, fifth place, the best of the season. The result is great for Alfa Romeo, considering Bottas had to interrupt time trials due to a technical failure and was unable to attend Saturday’s rehearsals.
The amazing situation in Mercedes is indicated by the fact that Russell was fourth, teammate Hamilton 13th.
Bottas pleased when there is no need to worry about the situation in Mercedes
The collision of Bottas at the beginning after Ricciardo was frightening, but it did not affect the race, the Finn said in an interview with Viaplay.
– Fortunately, nothing broke down, a strong car has been built. The depot stop was slow, without it there would have been even better. The momentum was there, able to push full from start to finish, Bottas noted.
Alfa Romeo failed at the Bottas depot stop when he went to change the intermediate tires to dry tires. There seems to be something dazzling with the right front wheel. In the end, Bottas challenged Russell in fourth place.
– Couldn’t get to full stroke distance, within half a second. The tires started to run out a bit at that point, maybe Mercedes had room to tighten a little more, Bottas said.
Bottas ‘words shone with relief when he didn’t have to be involved in Mercedes’ current battles. Bottas transferred to Alfa Romeo for this season after five seasons with Mercedes. Viaplay Mervi Kallio asked Bottas how much he currently enjoys the race.
– Yes, I enjoy it a lot. Pretty big difference is in recent years. To do, Bottas replied.
You can read more about the race and more driver comments on Sport’s F1 monitoring from this link.