Max Verstappen delivered a masterclass in aggressive yet precise racing to win Red Bull Racing’s 400th grand prix at Imola on Sunday. The victory, secured after a breathtaking first-corner move on pole-sitter Oscar Piastri, demonstrated why the Dutchman remains Formula 1’s benchmark driver despite McLaren’s recent surge in performance.

While Piastri appeared to get the perfect launch from pole position, the second phase of his getaway proved vulnerable. Verstappen capitalized with surgical precision, executing a perfectly judged late-braking move around the outside of the first chicane. Drawing alongside Piastri in the braking zone, Verstappen pinned the unsuspecting Australian onto the apex, claimed the second part of the chicane, and powered into a lead he would not relinquish.

“The start itself wasn’t particularly great, but I was still on the outside line – basically the normal line – so I tried to send it around the outside, and it worked really well and it unleashed our pace,” Verstappen explained after the race. “Once I was in the lead, the car was good. I could look after the tires and we had good pace.”

The reigning world champion added, “Incredibly proud of everyone. It’s been a very important week for us. The car’s performed really well. The execution of the whole race – when to pit, the pit stops themselves – were all very good.”

The initial stages of the race quickly became a tire management exercise as the medium compound – last year’s soft at this circuit – degraded rapidly. By lap 10, drivers were battling badly wearing rubber, forcing teams to abandon one-stop strategies.

Charles Leclerc triggered the first round of pit stops early from ninth place, revealing the power of the undercut when George Russell, who had been running fourth, rejoined behind the Ferrari driver after his stop.

McLaren reacted by bringing in Piastri two laps later, but the damage was done. The Australian emerged 12th, buried in the midfield. Despite overtaking his way forward ferociously, by lap 28 Piastri had only recovered to fourth place, a staggering 32 seconds behind Verstappen.

A virtual safety car on lap 29, deployed for Esteban Ocon’s stopped Haas, gifted Verstappen a free pit stop that cemented his lead. However, a full safety car on lap 46 to recover Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s stranded Mercedes dramatically altered the complexion of the McLaren intra-team battle.

Lando Norris seized the opportunity to stop for fresh hard tires while Piastri remained on track, creating a 16-lap tire advantage for the Briton but dropping him behind his teammate for the restart. The scenario set up a fascinating strategic dilemma for McLaren, with team and driver championships potentially in conflict.

McLaren’s pit wall opted not to intervene, leaving its drivers to settle the position on track. Norris wasted little time asserting his tire advantage, overtaking Piastri five laps after the restart with a better exit from Rivazza and DRS assistance into the first chicane. Despite Piastri’s determined defense, Norris broke through into second place after a close-quarters battle that came inches from contact.

By then, however, Verstappen had already built a five-second advantage with only five laps remaining – an insurmountable gap for Norris. The Dutchman crossed the line with a comfortable 6.1-second margin to secure his second victory of the season.

Norris, who reduced his championship deficit to just 13 points, was relatively upbeat despite missing out on converting McLaren’s recent pace advantage into victory.

“Max drove a good race,” he said. “They were quick today and probably even quicker [than us]. We couldn’t keep up. They were too good for us today.”

Piastri, meanwhile, was visibly disappointed with converting pole position into only third place, suggesting strategic errors cost him a better result.

“It was a good move by Max [at the start],” the Australian conceded. “But I think we made a few wrong calls after that anyway. Not our best Sunday. Definitely a lot of things to look at and review from that one.”

Lewis Hamilton delivered a remarkable drive to finish fourth in his debut race in Italy for Ferrari. Starting 12th on the grid, the seven-time world champion’s hard-tire start proved inspired when the virtual safety car perfectly aligned with his strategy.

Though the late safety car briefly dropped him to seventh, Hamilton executed a series of incisive overtakes on Russell and Alex Albon, while also benefiting from a wave-past by teammate Leclerc, to secure his best result of the season.

Alex Albon continued Williams’ impressive resurgence with fifth place – his second consecutive top-five finish and third of the season. The Thai driver benefited from a controversial incident with Leclerc, who was ordered to return position after pushing Albon off track at the first chicane.

Leclerc, clearly frustrated with the decision, argued that this year’s racing rules should have cleared him of wrongdoing as Albon had attempted to overtake around the outside.

George Russell finished seventh for Mercedes ahead of Carlos Sainz, rookie Isack Hadjar, and Yuki Tsunoda, who recovered from a pit lane start to claim the final championship point.

The day belonged to Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, however, as the team celebrated its milestone 400th grand prix with a victory that showcased both their strategic excellence and their champion driver’s exceptional racecraft. With the championship battle tightening, Formula 1 now moves forward with McLaren clearly in contention but Red Bull proving they remain the team to beat when executing at their best.