IMOLA, Italy — For the first time in a long while, Max Verstappen had to dig deep for a Formula One race victory on Sunday, courtesy of Lando Norris and McLaren.
Verstappen’s final victory margin of 0.7 seconds over Norris at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was a world away from any of the four easy wins he had claimed this year and a sizeable chunk of his record 19 victories in 2023.
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– Max Verstappen holds off Lando Norris to win by 0.7sec at Imola
“F—ing hell, mate. Had to work for that,” Verstappen said over his car radio after taking the chequered flag.
He wasn’t wrong. Norris, fresh off the heels of an overdue first F1 win in Miami two weeks earlier, catapulted himself into victory contention with a thrilling charge late on, which fell agonisingly short of making it two in a row.
“I was just praying for one more lap,” Norris said later.
The Englishman was content with second, but there was a real feeling of what might have been had Norris been given one chance to attack Verstappen down Imola’s long pit straight with his Drag Reduction System (DRS) wide open, which would have been the case as he was within one second of the Red Bull driver when they crossed the line.
0.7 seconds between Lando and Max over the line 👀
We might have ourselves a championship battle this year ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/lSPg1LE1go
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) May 19, 2024
“At least he would have had to defend into Turn 1, and maybe something could have come from that, but one lap too late,” Norris added. “It’s a shame, but it is what it is, and we just struggled too much in the beginning of the race.”
On paper, the weekend still featured a Verstappen pole position (a record-tying eighth in a row) and a fifth win from seven this year, but the Red Bull driver looked to be on the ropes throughout the event, starting with an uncharacteristically sloppy set of practice sessions on Friday which saw him run off the circuit on multiple occasions.
The Red Bull — or at least the one being driven by the championship leader — still appears to be the car to beat at the moment, but Imola provided fans with tangible proof that Verstappen and his runaway team can be challenged on pure pace. Norris’ win in Miami and his supreme display on Sunday in Imola have changed the whole temperature of the season. Verstappen may still hold a 28-point lead in the championship and a 60-point buffer over Norris, but there was a feeling leaving Italy’s first race of…
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