Verstappen holds off Norris charge in Imola victory
Max Verstappen held off a late charge by McLaren's Lando Norris to win the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix by less than a second on Sunday. Red Bull's triple Formula One world champion took the chequered flag just 0.725 of a second ahead of the man who beat him at the previous round in Miami and sensed he might snatch another. The win was Verstappen's fifth in seven races this season, the 59th of his career and the third edition in a row at Imola. Last year's race at the Italian circuit was cancelled due to heavy flooding. "I had no grip anymore. I was sliding a lot. I saw Lando closing in. The last 10 laps were flat out," said a relieved Verstappen, who had appeared set for another easy win but had to sweat ultimately for the spoils. "It's difficult when the tyres were not working anymore and you have to go flat out. I couldn't afford to make too many mistakes. Luckily we didn't." Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third at the Italian team's atmospheric home track, 7.916 off the pace, for his fourth podium finish of the season and a home race to come in Monaco next weekend. The victory extended Verstappen's championship lead to 48 points, with Leclerc now his closest rival after Red Bull's Sergio Perez started 11th and finished only eighth. Verstappen has 161 points, Leclerc 113 and Perez 107. Red Bull have 268 in the constructors' standings with Ferrari on 212 and McLaren on 154. McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished fourth, after starting fifth due to a three-place grid penalty for impeding in qualifying. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was fifth and the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell sixth and seventh on another afternoon to forget for the once-dominant team. (Reuters)