Oscar Piastri admitted he was caught out by Max Verstappen’s first-corner overtake at Imola as Christian Horner hailed the Dutchman’s “win it or bin it” move.
Verstappen launched a fearless move around the outside of the opening chicane, catching pole-sitter Piastri out as he surged through on the inside of Tamburello to take the lead.
He overcame a late safety car to clinch a second victory of the season in Red Bull’s 400th Formula One race, ending championship leader Piastri’s three-race winning run.
Lando Norris completed a daring late move on McLaren team-mate Piastri to take second and cut the Australian’s lead to 13 points, with Verstappen – chasing a fifth successive title – 22 points adrift.
Asked if he was surprised by the four-time world champion at the first corner, Piastri said: “Yeah, I thought I had it pretty under control. It was a good move from Max.
“I definitely would have done something different. I would have braked about 10 metres later probably.
“I live and learn.”
Red Bull team principal Horner believes the overtake underlined Verstappen’s race craft.
“I think maybe Oscar was more focused on (George) Russell and he left the slightest of gaps and Max just sent it and it was kind of ‘win it or bin it’.
“He’s just so good in that situation where he just sees a gap and it’s so decisive for him.”
Verstappen had the pace to pull clear of the grid’s dominant car and had the race under control before a late safety car offered hope to the McLaren duo.
“Overall quite surprising but of course very happy with what we showed today,” Verstappen said.
“I just hope that we can show this kind of performance a bit more often.
IT'S LIGHTS OUT IN IMOLA 🚥
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) May 18, 2025
What a MOVE from Max Verstappen to claim the lead from Oscar Piastri 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/xtjZnKQChu
“Every time that we have been really competitive, it’s been high-speed tracks, high-speed corners.
“We still have work to do, but I do think it’s been a very positive weekend for us.”
On his first-lap move, Verstappen added: “I was quite far back.
“I braked late and then came off the brakes, I felt like ‘OK, there might be a move on’, so I just carried the speed in and luckily it basically was sticking.”
Piastri was on older tyres following the safety-car restart with nine laps remaining, but McLaren opted not to allow Norris, on fresh rubber, through to attack Verstappen.
Team principal Andrea Stella said McLaren, who completed a dominant one-two in Miami a fortnight ago, “did not have the race pace” to beat Verstappen on Sunday.
Norris admitted the McLaren pair came close to contact as he made a move round the outside but was pleased that the team-mates were able to fight.
“It was good that we could race close like that today,” Norris said.
“No discussion of team orders. No, there was nothing.
“I knew that was going to be my, probably not my one chance, but you saw once I passed him how easy it was to pull away.
Lando overtakes Oscar for P2 🔥🟠
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) May 18, 2025
What a battle between the McLaren drivers ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/WmTaMpkmbO
“It was clear he was just struggling with the tyres. It was a close one, I don’t know how close we got.”
Lewis Hamilton recovered from 12th on the grid to finish fourth for Ferrari, with Alex Albon fifth and Charles Leclerc sixth.
George Russell finished seventh after starting third.
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