Max Verstappen reignites title challenge as he wins Imola GP with Charles Leclerc in 5th

Max Verstappen reignited his title challenge at a damp Imola on Sunday afternoon as he took victory ahead of Sergio Perez and Lando Norris, with championship leader Charles Leclerc spinning in the final third of the race and finishing in 5th place.

Verstappen got a much better launch off of the line than he did for the Sprint yesterday, with him able to cover off Leclerc as the field charged down to turn one at a wet Imola, following heavy showers prior to lights out, though the race itself would prove a dry one.

The Dutchman led into turn one, with team-mate Perez in behind as Leclerc dropped down to fourth place.

More woe would follow on lap one for the Scuderia, meanwhile, as Carlos Sainz suffered more ill-fortune and was tapped into the gravel trap by Daniel Ricciardo, who himself appeared to have taken a nudge from behind.

Whilst the Aussie managed to escape and resume running, though, Sainz’s race was run, seeing him score no points for the second Grand Prix running – at least he managed to get five points during Sprint on Saturday.

Further back, compatriot Fernando Alonso also had to retire early on in the race, with a panel on his Alpine coming clean off; whilst in all the commotion, Kevin Magnussen, George Russell and Valtteri Bottas enjoyed a good battle as high as fifth, with the Briton coming out on top.

Rain continued to threaten – though it would ultimately never come – meanwhile, and so the first pitstops would prove crucial, with Daniel Ricciardo, now running near the back of the pack, rolling the dice first.

Once he’d gotten around a couple of times without throwing it off, that was the cue for the rest of the pack to stop, too, with slicks the order of the day.

It was frantic in the pitlane, with