Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (2024)

Gary Rose

All times stated are UK

  1. Post update

    Time for us to wrap things up but the title battle resumes in two weeks as we head to the United States for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix.

    Get all the analysis on today's race via the Chequered Flag podcast and we'll see you next time.

    Bye!

    Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (1)

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  2. Race report

    Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (2)

    Andrew Benson

    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

    Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (3)

    Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

    Red Bull's Max Verstappen dominated a wet-dry Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to revive his title hopes as rival Charles Leclerc threw away third place with a costly error.

    The Ferrari driver was pushing to try to pass Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez after a late pit stop when he lost control at the Variante Alta chicane at Imola.

    Leclerc had to pit for a new front wing and fresh tyres and dropped to ninth, and could recover only to sixth.

    The error enabled Verstappen to slash his deficit to Leclerc from 45 points to 27, moving the Dutchman up from fifth in the championship to second.

    Until Leclerc's mistake, the Ferrari driver appeared to be heading for a frustrating but acceptable third place. But in an instant he threw away a significant part of the advantage he had gained thanks to Red Bull's poor early-season reliability.

    The fact the error happened at Ferrari's home race, in front of a packed crowd of their passionate Italian tifosi, will have made it feel even worse, especially as Leclerc had emphasised before the weekend the need "to not overdo things" with expectations so high at Imola.

    It made for a nightmare race for Ferrari, who had lost Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz on the first lap when the Spaniard was tipped into the gravel by McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo.

    Read more here.

  3. 'Lando doesn't make mistakes' - Brown

    Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (4)

    Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

    McLaren team boss Zak Brown, speaking to Sky Sports: "It was a good race, Lando drove really well. It was a bit unfortunate for Daniel at the start.

    "We tried something different at the end with the tyre change, but it didn't work.

    "Lando doesn't make mistakes, he's very fast and and hopefully we can give him a car to win around here - hopefully soon."

    On the next race taking place in Miami for the first time: "I think it might be the biggest race in Formula 1 - at least as a debut - for the partners and the fans. Long may it continue but I think Miami is going to be outstanding."

  4. Drivers' championship - how it stands

    That shows how a good weekend can really change things in the standings with Charles Leclerc's lead no longer looking quite so dominant.

    1. Charles Leclerc 86

    2. Max Verstappen 59

    3. Sergio Perez 54

    4. George Russell 49

    5. Carlos Sainz 38

    6. Lando Norris 35

    7. Lewis Hamilton 28

    8. Valtteri Bottas 24

    9. Esteban Ocon 20

    10. Kevin Magnussen 15

  5. 'We have to build on this momentum'

    Red Bull team principal Christian Horner: "It was an interesting race. It was quite a stressful race on the pit wall because of the changing conditions. Max and Checo did an unbelievable job.

    "We attacked the weekend, we brought upgrades. It paid off. We came within one point of a maximum score here.

    "Both guys made great starts. It was a wonderful team performance.

    "Miami will be a great event. They are very excited about it so let's see. We have to build on this momentum now. A one-two finish, our first since 2016. A great result."

  6. 'Russell's race was made by his great start'

    Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (5)

    Andrew Benson

    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

    George Russell's race was made by his great start, which jumped him from 11th to sixth on the opening lap. Hamilton, by contrast, finished the first lap 12th and was stuck thereafter, unable to pass slower cars.

  7. 'No doubt Hamilton will come back strongly' - Russell

    More now from George Russell, speaking about team-mate Lewis Hamilton: "The car has just been totally outside of the window this weekend.

    "It's so difficult to get a lap out of the tyres and in the right window, and it's just being able to put a lap together.

    "Lewis has the pace and is incredibly fast but it's just been tricky for us, as a team, to get things done when the time was needed.

    "Lewis has been massively fast, it was probably just a bit of a blip this weekend. But I have no doubt he's going to come back strongly. We all want more and he wants more and nobody is happy with this position."

  8. 'Hopefully we find a better compromise' - Russell

    Mercedes' George Russell, who started 11th and finished fourth, speaking to Sky Sports: "I think we've got to be pleased that we are getting the best result possible. Whether we're getting the most out of the car is a different story.

    "Things have fell slightly in our favour in these last four races, so we've been fortunate in that regard. But equally, we've been unfortunate just because the car hasn't been quick enough in qualifying.

    "That is a motorsport. When the car is quick, things go your way. When it's not, things don't go your way.

    "We've got these overall limitations of the car. I think it's been a trend since Bahrain and we've got a little bit slower. We need to find a better compromise for tyre temperatures.

    "Hopefully we find a compromise because we were starting far too low on the grid."

  9. Post update

    Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (6)

    Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

    This is the first time Lewis Hamilton has been lapped by Max Verstappen since the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix.

  10. 'No question I'm out of the championship'

    Lewis Hamilton, speaking to Sky Sports after finishing 13th: "A weekend to forget, that is for sure.

    "I am out of the championship, for sure. There's no question about that. I will still keep working as hard as I can and pull it back together somehow."

    Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (7)

    Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

  11. 'This shouldn't happen again' - Leclerc

    Charles Leclerc, speaking to Sky Sports about his mistake towards the end of the grand prix: "It's a big shame. Whatever happened before the spin... but it's part of racing.

    "P3 was the best I could do. We didn't have the pace for much more and I was too greedy, and paid the price for it and lost potential points. It is a shame, this shouldn't happen again.

    "Only time will tell [if this will impact title race]. For sure, Red Bull seem to be more competitive than the first three races. We had the upper hand in Bahrain and Australia, then they had it here and in Jeddah.

    "It is very, very close and I think it will be that way for the rest of the season. It's a big mistake but considering the mistakes, it could've been much bigger."

    Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (8)

    Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

  12. 'There are always tough moments' - Sainz

    Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, speaking to Sky Sports about his disappointing race: "It's was very bad, definitely. A tough moment.

    "It's not at all the way I wanted to go out in front of the fans. Turn 2 can be bad, but there are always these tough moments in the life of the sportsman and you have to go through them.

    As long as I keep working hard, the good times will come."

    Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (9)

    Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

  13. Post update

    Relive how Verstappen won Emilia Romagna GP to cut Leclerc's lead (10)

    Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

    A much-needed dominant weekend for Red Bull after reliability issues hampered them in the earlier races of the season.

    It bodes well for a very competitive title battle.

  14. 'We're not good enough for a world champion' - Wolff

    Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, speaking to Sky Sports: "George really drove well considering the car that he had. A really good drive.

    "For Lewis, really bad. We got squeezed by the Alpjne and there is just no overtaking when you're in a DRS train. We are not good enough for a world champion and we just need to fix the car.

    "I think we are going to look at things for Miami, the understanding of the car. and we just really need to understand more and creep up."

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