Before the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, Charles Leclerc had 71 points, 46 ahead of Max Verstappen, and Ferrari had a 49-point lead over Red Bull.
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After a challenging home race weekend at Imola, Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto stated that the advantage will continue to swing between his team and Red Bull, who clawed back their points deficit with a one-two finish on Sunday. Before the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, Charles Leclerc had 71 points, 46 ahead of Max Verstappen, and Ferrari had a 49-point lead over Red Bull, but their respective lead has been cut to 29 and 11 points after Red Bull’s dominant Imola performance.
“We are a bit unhappy about the results today, but we need to keep our heads up – that’s part of racing,” said Binotto. “Some races may go wrong, as it has been today, but I think we still have a competitive package. We need to keep the smile on and look forward to the next races.”
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“Certainly, [Red Bull] are strong, and we know that they are developing the cars, but two weeks ago we were in Australia with the best car. Today is the opposite; it will be race by race, the balance can change a bit but again we had a good package here overall. We were second in the quali, second in the wet conditions and in the dry we had a good Sprint,” added the Ferrari boss.
Unlike Red Bull, Mercedes, and a slew of other teams, the Scuderia did not bring a significant upgrade package to Imola. Binotto stated that his team is still reviewing their position in what will undoubtedly be a lengthy development process.
As Ferrari failed to deliver on home soil, Max Verstappen won a dramatic wet-dry Emilia Romagna Grand Prix over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, with Charles Leclerc spinning late on to finish sixth after Carlos Sainz retired. The Dutchman won the Sprint on Saturday and led off the line on Sunday, with teammate Perez joining him at the front – while Leclerc dropped to fourth for a brief moment. On the first lap, the Safety Car was deployed after Daniel Ricciardo tipped Carlos Sainz into the gravel and forced him out of the race for the second consecutive Grand Prix.
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On Lap 19, as the track dried, drivers began to switch from inters to mediums, with Perez coming in first, followed by Verstappen and Leclerc one lap later. The Monegasque started just ahead of Perez, but with warmer tyres, Perez skated past for P2 and then held off the Ferrari. The Red Bulls followed Leclerc’s late gamble to pit for softs from P3 and retain the lead, but Perez spun and hit the wall at Variante Alta on Lap 54, again in pursuit of the championship leader. He dropped to ninth after pitting for a new nose and softs, and only made it to P6 at the finish.
