Sunday Debrief: Verstappen holds off Norris to the chequered flag in a thrilling end to the Emila-Romagna GP
- mallikarull
- May 19, 2024
- 3 min read
In a weekend remembering Ayrton Senna’s legacy 30 years on, Verstappen matched the record of the F1 legend with 8 consecutive pole starts. Verstappen translated that pole into a win just about holding off Norris by o.7 seconds.
Image: motorsport.com
Qualifying
Going into qualifying, the Aston Martin mechanics worked quick to get Alonso’s car ready for the first session, after an incident for Alonso in FP3. The mechanics were able to send Alonso out in the latter half of the first session, but it wasn’t enough for Alonso to get out of Q1, qualifying P20.
The McLaren’s and Ferrari’s looked to be the quickest cars of the weekend during the practice sessions, Leclerc leading both FP1 and FP2, while Piastri with the full upgrades finished in P1 in FP3. While the Ferrari’s with new upgrades looked to be in top shape, they weren’t able to make a strong enough effort in qualifying, both drivers finishing in P4 and P5, led by Leclerc. The two McLarens staying ahead of the Ferrari’s, Piastri the quickest of the pair in P2, but was dropped down to P5 for the race with a 3-place grid penalty for impeding Magnussen in Q1.
Verstappen lined himself on pole for the 8th race start this season, matching Ayrton Sennas record of 8 consecutive pole starts. Meanwhile, Perez in the other Red Bull was unable to escape Q2, only qualifying in P11.
Race
Alonso started the race from the pit lane, following changes to his set up after a disaster qualifying session, leaving Sargeant to start the race from the back alone. Up at the front of the grid, Verstappen lined up in pole, with Norris for company.
Going into turn 1 it was a strong start from both drivers on the front row, Verstappen and Norris holding their position. A few rows back, Tsunoda who started in P7 between the two Mercedes, was cleared by Hamilton followed by Hulkenberg. Tsunoda losing two places on the first lap.
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Alonso’s weekend not having the best of luck after a pit stop on lap 8 gave a slight scare to the Spanish driver. Alonso leaving the pits as his brakes catch alight, fortunately the fire was put out by the air as he left the pits. Albon, also having no luck in the pits on Lap 10, Albon with a tyre not fitted properly was released back on track, Albon forced to drive slowly to make his was back to the pits dropping him down to the back of the grid. Albon was penalised with a 10-second stop and go penalty to serve during the race.
With the 2 Mercedes driver looking to be each other’s competitor for the weekend, Russell was called to pit on lap 22, returning to the track in P10 with a set of Hard tyres. The front of the field pitting one by one, promoting Hamilton up into P2, behind Carlos Sainz before his stop. Hamilton finally pitting on lap 28, after a lock up on his previous lap, causing the Mercedes to slow on the track temporarily before speeding back up. Hamilton picking off Stroll before Perez on lap 37 down the straight to get back up into P7, behind his teammate once again.
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After running the race at the back of the grid after an unfortunate pit stop, Albon was put out of his misery and called to retire at the end of lap 54. Albon being picked up by stewards for further investigation following the race.
With less that 10 laps to go Verstappen began to complain over the radio about issues with his tyres and steering. Norris closing the gap from 4 seconds to just over 2 seconds in the space of 4 laps, putting the pressure on Verstappen as the gap drops down to under 2 seconds with 6 laps to go. with 4 laps to go, Verstappen picked up the pace, Lando with a snap of oversteer costed himself some time, dropping a bit of pace. 3 laps left and Verstappen with an emptier battery, Lando is told over the radio to push more. 2 laps left and Norris on the edge of DRS contention nearly goes into the gravel, dancing on the edge of DRS. 62 laps done, on the final lap Norris finally in DRS of Verstappen, Norris trying to put psychological pressure on Verstappen, but it wasn’t enough, Norris out of laps finishes 7 hundredths of a second behind Verstappen.
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