Track Torque: Exciting racing at Imola under changeable conditions

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were in a class of their own at the Imola track in Italy last Sunday.

Max started in pole position after winning Saturday’s sprint race and never put a foot wrong on race day. He was very well supported by his teammate who is now showing much more confidence in his Red Bull, which is good to see.

Charles Leclerc tried very hard to keep up but a slight lack of concentration caused him to spin off late in the race causing him to finish in 6th position.

Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari was very unlucky to be involved in a starting lap incident and had to retire his car. The Tifosi were very disappointed to see the Red team outperformed but will have to wait for another day.

Behind the Red Bulls in third place was a very happy Lando Norris, who drove a great race.

The other young Englishman George Russell did his very best in his under performing Mercedes to finish fourth, a brilliant result under the circumstances. He and teammate Lewis Hamilton are still battling with severe ‘porpoising’ in the Mercedes cars.

Another very good drive came from Valtteri Bottas who beat Leclerc into fifth place.

In seventh position was Yuki Tsunoda in the Alphatauri after a battle with Sebastian Vettel in eighth place.

Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll in Haas and Aston Martin respectively were ninth and 10th. Lewis Hamilton battled a lap behind in his Mercedes to finish in an unlucky 13th position.

Imola produced exciting racing under changeable race conditions, as it rained during the earlier part of the race. We now move across the Atlantic to Miami in two weeks time for the next race of the season.

Verstappen has closed the gap to just 28 points after his successful weekend – he got an extra point for fastest lap in the race – with 25 points for a win, the scene is hotting up again.