Verstappen defeated Norris at the 2024 F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen won on Sunday after McLaren's Rand Norris won the 2024 F1 season's Round 7 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The current champion finished just 0.7 seconds ahead of Norris in the race held at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy. 3rd place was Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who gave the winner a 7.9 second lead.
Verstappen started the race on the pole and Norris joined in front of the grid. Both drivers had a good start, but Verstappen was able to cruise ahead and had already built a gap of 7 seconds by lap 2. Behind them, Leclerc held 3rd place ahead of fellow Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz and McLaren's Oscar Pierstry.
The top driver made the only pit stop near the midway point of the race. Verstappen returned to the race in fourth place after Mercedes-Benz AMG's Lewis Hamilton and two Ferrari drivers. However, Verstappen quickly returned to the lead and ended up enjoying a gap of more than 6 seconds with Norris, who returned to the second after his own stop.
Behind the top 2, Leclerc was again in 3rd place, but Piastri undercut Sainz, who stopped late, to 4th place. The race seemed to be set at this point, but at 10 laps from the finish, Verstappen complained that the tires stopped working, and on subsequent laps his gap dropped from 6 seconds to just 1.5 seconds.
A sudden episode of oversteer seemed to throw off Norris's slow charge slightly, but he was pushed over, but Verstappen was able to keep focus and hold off Norris until the end, despite his low grip. Behind it, Leclerc won the last podium, and Pierstry took 4th place, ahead of Sainz in 5th place.
Following the weekend action, Verstappen continues to lead in the 2024 Drivers' Championship with 161 points. Leclerc moved to second with 113 points and Red Bull's Sergio Perez has dropped to third with 107 points. In the Constructors' Championship, against Ferrari's 212 and McLaren's 154, Red Bull leads by 268 points.
The next race on the calendar is scheduled for the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend.
Here are the full results of the 2024 F1Emilia Romagna Grand Prix:
1)Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 2) Rand Norris, McLaren +0.725 seconds 3) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +7.916 seconds 4) Oscar Piastri, McLaren +14.132 seconds 5) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +22.325 seconds 6) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG +35.104 seconds 7) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG +47.154 seconds 8) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing +54.776 seconds 9) Lance Stroke Aston Martin +79.556 seconds 10) Yuki Tsunoda, RB+1 lap 11) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas + 1 lap 12) Kevin Magnussen, Haas + 1 lap 13) Daniel Ricciardo, RB+1 lap 14) Esteban Ocon, Alpine + 1 lap 15) Zhou Guanyu, Sauber + 1 lap 16) Pierre Guthrie, Alpine + 1 lap 17) Logan Sargeant, Williams + 1 lap 18) Valtteri Bottas, Sauber + 1 lap 19) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin + 1 lap NC) Alexander Arbon, Williams-DNF
