Another victory for Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen gave a major boost to his Formula One title defense by winning the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix yesterday, following a daring early overtake on qualifying leader Oscar Piastri.

The Dutch driver built a commanding lead that evaporated when the safety car brought out the drivers. He held on to win, though, ahead of Lando Norris, who overtook his McLaren teammate Piastri for second with five laps remaining.

It's Verstappen's second win of the season and his first since last month's Japanese Grand Prix. He also denied Piastri, who finished third, what would have been his fourth consecutive victory.

The reigning champion praised the "fantastic performance in every aspect" of his Red Bull team, which also celebrated its 400th race in the top category with a victory.

“The start itself wasn't particularly good, but I was still on the outside line, or basically the normal (racing) line, and I thought, 'Well, I'll just go for the outside,' and it worked out really well,” Verstappen said of his crucial overtake. “That, of course, unleashed our pace because once we were up front, the car was good,” he stated.

Norris's last-minute move on Piastri was almost a carbon copy of Verstappen's, although Norris had the advantage of being on fresher tires than his teammate.

“We had a good little battle at the end between Oscar and I, which is always tense, but always fun,” Norris said, admitting that Verstappen and Red Bull were “too good for us today.”

Australian Piastri's lead over Norris in the standings has been reduced to 13 points. Verstappen is nine behind the Briton.

Lewis Hamilton recovered from twelfth on the grid to finish fourth in his first race for Ferrari on Italian soil.

Hamilton benefited from the late-race battle between his teammate Charles Leclerc and Williams' Alex Albon.

Albon complained that Leclerc forced him off the track as they battled for fourth place, and Hamilton took advantage to overtake both of them before Ferrari eventually asked Leclerc to cede fifth place to Albon.

George Russell finished seventh for Mercedes, ahead of Carlos Sainz, Jr. in the second Williams. Isack Hadjar was ninth for Racing Bulls, and Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda was tenth after starting last following a qualifying crash.

Yesterday's race was the last under Imola's current contract, and there is still no news about a possible renewal.— AP