After a one-year hiatus, Formula One was back in Imola for the FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES GRAN PREMIO DEL MADE IN ITALY E DELL’EMILIA-ROMAGNA 2024. This was a special year for the event as it marks the 30th anniversary of the sport’s darkest weekend, in which we lost Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. The drivers were keen to give the Italian fans a good show.
It was an even getaway on the front row of the grid. Max Verstappen, who parked on the grid aggressively angled to the right, accelerated quicker than the McLaren of Lando Norris, entering the first corner in the lead. Norris maintained P2, despite some pressure from Charles Leclerc in the first corner.
It was an orderly start, with all the drivers on their best behaviour. By the end of the first lap, Verstappen was barely out of DRS range, but it was enough to eliminate the pressure from Norris.
On lap 10, some of the drivers at the back of the field took the gamble to pit early, in what was a one-stop race. One of those drivers was Alex Albon. But when he returned to the circuit, it was clear that one of his tyres was not secured properly. The Williams driver crawled back to the pit lane for another tyre change. To make matters worse, he was given a 10-second penalty for an unsafe release.
Sergio Perez, who started the race on the alternate strategy to make up for a poor qualifying performance, had an adventure off the track in the early stages. The Red Bull driver ran wide in turn 17 and took a trip through the gravel. He was not the only driver to have an off-track excursion during the race. Lewis Hamilton carried too much speed in turn 12, running through the gravel on the inside of turn 13.
Verstappen was having trouble keeping his car within the white lines, being shown the black and white flag for track limits very early in the race. He was able to keep his nose clean for the race of the race to avoid a penalty.
The pit window for the medium tyre runners opened roughly a third of the way through the race distance. Most of the lead drivers who pitted were behind Perez when rejoining the race, although the Mexican driver didn’t put up much of a fight for most drivers. Leclerc lost quite a bit of time behind the Red Bull, allowing Oscar Piastri to close to within DRS range, but he was back to quick pace after overtaking Perez.
After the pit stops, Norris came under pressure from Leclerc, who was within DRS range at this point in the race. However, Leclerc’s hopes of upgrading to P2 ended after he cut through the gravel at the chicane on lap 48. Although he quickly returned to his previous pace, Norris’ pace improved greatly.
The pace of the lead McLaren was so strong that he was in a position to challenge the reigning World Champion in the closing stages. He was giving it everything to try and chase down the Red Bull. By the final lap, Norris was within a second of Verstappen, but it was not close enough to dethrone the Dutchman.
If there was a few more laps in the race, the results may have been very different. But in reality Max Verstappen stood on the top step of the podium alongside Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
Formula One will stay in Europe for another week, going to the home of many drivers on the grid. Next is the Monaco Grand Prix around the narrow streets of the principality on May 26.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | 1:25:25.252 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 63 | +0.725 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 63 | +7.916 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 63 | +14.132 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 63 | +22.325 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 63 | +35.104 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 63 | +47.154 | 7 |  | |
| 8 | 63 | +54.776 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 63 | +79.556 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 62 | +1 Lap | 1 | ||
| 11 | 62 | +1 Lap | |||
| 12 | 62 | +1 Lap | |||
| 13 | 62 | +1 Lap | |||
| 14 | 62 | +1 Lap | |||
| 15 | 62 | +1 Lap | |||
| 16 | 62 | +1 Lap | |||
| 17 | 62 | +1 Lap | |||
| 18 | 62 | +1 Lap | |||
| 19 | 62 | +1 Lap | |||
| DNF | 51 |
