What better way might Max Verstappen have marked his determination to stay resolutely in the title fight than with an emphatic victory at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, appropriately ensured with one of the best overtaking moves of his career.
He has always maintained that, despite Red Bull’s struggles with their car, his commitment was unwavering and he demonstrated it with a piece of relentlessly controlled dominance to take victory at Imola.
Behind him, what had looked like a weekend to forget for Ferrari, after the devastation, as Lewis Hamilton described a woeful qualifying for the team at their home race, turned to perhaps the unlikeliest of celebrations. The Briton was finally able to revel in a shared joy with his team that has been truly short on the ground this season.
He returned fourth place, his best grand prix finish this season, from 12th on the grid after a race where Ferrari made the absolute most of their strategy and the seven-time champion ducked and dived, making pass after pass with an enthusiastic verve that hints at just what he might do if the team could deliver a better ride.
A buoyant Hamilton was understandably in fine spirits afterwards, taking genuine pleasure in a hard fought result in his first race for Ferrari in front of the tifosi.
For Verstappen, in beating Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri into second place and third place at a circuit where the McLaren had looked so quick, was no little coup and with fine timing too on the occasion of Red Bull’s 400th grand prix. By taking his fourth win in a row at Imola, Verstappen has ensured he is still front and centre in the championship, with Piastri now leading by 13 points from Britain’s Norris and Verstappen in third, 22 points back from the Australian.
Putting it in context gives it even more weight, as Verstappen’s season thus far has been perhaps most challenging in just maintaining an equilibrium. From the lows of Bahrain, which followed a win in Japan, there was a surge again in Saudi Arabia, but having then finished fourth, 40 seconds behind the two McLarens in Miami, the rollercoaster for Verstappen and Red Bull in Imola hurtled upwards once more.
It was a win that, for all that the race did ebb and flow as two safety car periods and strategy calls played their part, had surely been decided within scant seconds of the lights going out. But what a way to decide it, a moment to savour and indeed one Verstappen might enjoy looking back on.
Piastri had just held his lead from pole entering turn one but Verstappen was having none of it. He made an absolute bravura move round the outside to scythe in front as they hurtled through Tamburello. It was all or nothing for the Dutchman, who judged it to perfection. He tiptoed on to the anchors as late as he possibly could, for a moment of collective breath-holding that lasted but the blink of an eye. Then it was done. Riding his speed, doubtless to the shock of Piastri, who would have imagined the corner was already his, Verstappen had the lead and with it the race by the scruff of the neck.
Afterwards he reflected, sagely, that it was the bigger picture that really mattered. Notably that on race pace the Red Bull had more than the measure of the McLaren and that is what will really appeal. “I was still on the normal line and I thought I would try and send it round the outside and it worked really well,” he said. “It’s been a very important week for us and the car has performed really well.”
Indeed, coming into this weekend Verstappen had identified this race and the two that follow, Monaco and Spain, as crucial to his world championship ambitions, and driver and team duly delivered a masterly performance. They played the strategy right taking advantage of the safety cars in a car that has been a handful all season. Yet even as the mercurial ride skews from week to week in performance, Verstappen is there, a rock, to coerce out what he can when it is wilful and wayward and to absolutely soar when it is hitting the marks, as it was in Imola.
McLaren tried to take the fight to them, splitting their strategy between Norris and Piastri, but – as the team principal, Andrea Stella, conceded afterwards – once Verstappen had the lead they could not match him.
Piastri was unlucky with the timing of the first safety car just as Hamilton and Verstappen took advantage from it but these were variables the world champion had covered as he proved definitively in haring off to the flag after the second safety car closed the pack up again.
Both he and Hamilton have not looked quite so energised for some time and both leave Imola with reason to be hopeful for more. Game on it is, then, for Monaco next week.
Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz were fifth and eighth for Williams, Charles Leclerc came from 11th to sixth, George Russell was seventh for Mercedes, Isack Hadjar ninth for Racing Bulls and Yuki Tsunoda 10th for Red Bull.
