Max Verstappen holds off Lando Norris charge to clinch victory in Imola

Max Verstappen held off a dramatic Lando Norris fightback to win the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Verstappen crossed the line just 0.725 seconds clear of Norris in Imola to take his fifth victory from the seven rounds so far.

Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari, one place ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri with Carlos Sainz fifth.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished sixth and seventh respectively for Mercedes.

Verstappen looked to be on course to claim a comfortable win, but Norris’ superb charge in the closing stages left the Dutchman sweating inside his all-conquering Red Bull.

After the sole round of pit-stops, Verstappen held a steady lead of around six seconds, but a turgid race suddenly came alive when Verstappen could offer little response to Norris’ speed.

With five laps remaining, Norris was just 1.5secs behind Verstappen, and as they entered the final lap the gap was less than a second.

But despite Norris’ best efforts, the British driver, who broke his duck in Miami a fortnight ago, was forced to settle for runner-up.

“It hurts me to say it, but with one or two more laps, I could have had him,” said Norris.

“It is tough. I fought hard until the very last lap but I lost too much time to Max at the beginning. With one or two more laps it could have been beautiful, but not today.”

Verstappen positioned his car at an aggressive angle to thwart any attack from Norris at the start. And it worked as he kept the Briton at bay through the opening chicane.

Norris kept Verstappen honest for the opening half a dozen laps, limiting his lead to one second. But by lap six, Verstappen had doubled his margin to two seconds and when Norris pulled in for fresh rubber on lap 22, the Red Bull man was six seconds up the