Max Verstappen wins his third Emilia Romagna GP: Key stats
What's the story
Max Verstappen has won the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The Dutchman finished ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Notably, this was Verstappen's third Emilia Romagna GP win. He won the race here in 2021 and 2022.
The 2023 edition was cancelled due to heavy rainfall and floods.
Norris threatened in the closing stages and tested Verstappen's resolve. Here's more.
Verstappen
59th race win for the Dutchman
With his 50th race win at the 2023 United States GP, Verstappen became the fifth to do so in Formula 1 history.
Lewis Hamilton leads the way with 103 wins ahead of Michael Schumacher (91).
Verstappen has now won his 59th race in F1. Notably, the Dutchman sealed 19 race wins in the 2023 season out of 22 races.
Podiums
Verstappen sealed his 104th career podium finish
By winning the Emilia Romagna GP, Verstappen sealed his 104th podium finish.
Earlier, he became the sixth driver in F1 history to clock 100-plus podiums. Verstappen, who won the F1 title in 2023 and 2022 respectively, went on to claim 21 podium finishes last season.
Notably, in the 2022 season, he managed 17 podium finishes. He has 44 podium finishes since 2022.
Dominance
One way traffic!
Verstappen has won five out of the seven F1 races this year. He claimed the season-opening Bahrain GP and then won the Saudi Arabian GP. In Melbourne, he had to retire. Verstappen sealed the Japanese GP thereafter.
Verstappen won his maiden Chinese GP last month.
The previous race held in Miami saw Verstappen take second place with Norris winning.
Duo
Four podium finishes each this year for Norris and Leclerc
Norris had a superb race to register his 17th career podium finish. It was his fourth podium finish of the season and a third in succession.
Meanwhile, Leclerc finished fourth in Bahrain, third in Saudi Arabia, second in Melbourne, fourth in Japan, fourth in China and two successive 3rd-place finishes (Miami and Imola).
This was his fourth podium finish this year and 34th overall.
Twitter Post
A win in Imola!
BACK TO WINNING WAYS 🏆 MAX IS VICTORIOUS IN IMOLA! 🇮🇹#F1 || #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/GWQ7c2z2XR
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 19, 2024
Information
Constructor and Driver standings of 2024
After seven races, Red Bull Racing lead the Constructor Standings with 239 points. Ferrari are second with 187 points. McLaren are third (124 points) and are above Mercedes (64). Among drivers, Verstappen has 161 points and is above Leclerc (113) and Sergio Perez (107).
Drivers
Emilia Romagna GP: Here are the top 10 drivers
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
2) Lando Norris (McLaren)
3) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
5) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
6) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
7) George Russell (Mercedes)
8) Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing)
9) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
10) Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
Race
Verstappen fends off Norris
Verstappen held off a late charge from Norris. The Dutchman struggled with his tyres in the final part of the race.
Norris went into the final three laps just 1.3 seconds behind Verstappen but it wasn't enough.
Verstappen looked in control for most parts of the race before Norris made a late surge.
It was the first stint where Verstappened had sealed the deal.