Max Verstappen put himself on course to win the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix by pulling off a superb pass on pole-winner Oscar Piastri at the start.
Piastri made a clean start from pole position and Verstappen initially found himself fighting to stay ahead of third-placed George Russell. But as they reached the braking zone for Tamburello the Red Bull swept around the outside of Piastri and into the lead.
It proved a decisive moment as Verstappen enjoyed the benefit of clear air from then on. Piastri struggled in his wake and committed to an early pit stop which took him out of contention for much of the race.
Verstappen explained how he pulled off the move which put him on course for his second victory of the season.
“I was quite far back,” he said. “At the time before braking, I was basically in [third].
“But of course, I was on the normal braking line. I still had to come from far. As soon as I braked late and then came off the brakes, I felt like, okay, there might be a move on.
“So I just carried the speed in. And, luckily, it basically was sticking. It’s not an easy move to make, but luckily, everything went well.”
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When Verstappen went off at turn one in Jeddah, also while fighting Piastri, he knew there was an asphalt run-off on the outside. This was a riskier move as the Tamburello chicane is bordered by gravel.
By approaching the corner on the grippier racing line, while Piastri was still off-line from defending his position ahead of Russell, Verstappen did not have to slow down as much.
“I started to carry a bit more speed to the apex. Then at one point, you have that kind of momentum swing then going into turn three. And then, of course, I knew that I was ahead, but it all goes so fast.
“You have to be really precise, to try and not go too far off-line. But luckily, the grip was alright there.”
After taking the lead, Verstappen said his car’s strong pace in clear air was a pleasant surprise.
“I was, of course, happy to be in the lead, but I was still not entirely sure how quick we were going to be because, of course, I was also in the lead in Miami, but we did not have a great pace there.
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“So I just tried to follow a bit my rhythm. I do think the car felt a bit nicer, a bit more controlled to drive now also in the long run, and that helped me, I think, also then look after the tyres probably a bit more than normal.
“Overall it was quite surprising but of course I’m very happy with what we showed today. I just hope that we can show this kind of performance a bit more often.”
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