IMOLA — Max Verstappen took his second victory of the season at Sunday’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix as McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri scrapped over second and third.
Verstappen took the lead of the race from Piastri in the first corner of the race and kept his calm following a late safety car period to seal the 65th grand prix win of his career.
Championship leader Piastri, who started from pole position with the aim of extending a three-race winning streak to four, finished the race third after losing second place to Norris with five laps remaining.
A two-stop strategy and a poorly-timed virtual safety car (VSC) worked against Piastri in the first half of the race, but he was shuffled back up to second under a late safety car when Norris made a stop for tyres and he stayed out.
The differing strategies of the McLarens set up a showdown when the safety car returned to the pits with ten laps remaining, and Norris closed down Piastri and passed him thanks to his fresher tyres.
The result helped close the gaps at the top of the championship, with Piastri’s lead over Norris cut to 13 points and Verstappen closing to 22 points of the lead McLaren driver.
Source: espn.com