Max Verstappen wins weather-impacted Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Max Verstappen won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton finished 13th and a lap behind on a desperate afternoon for the British driver.

Verstappen dominated in the wet-dry race at Imola to claim his second win of the season, with Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez second and Lando Norris promoted to third after championship leader Charles Leclerc spun and dropped to sixth.

For Hamilton, the sport's most decorated driver, he endured possibly the worst afternoon of his 16-season Formula One career.

The 37-year-old started 14th and finished only one place better off as George Russell progressed from 11th to fourth in the other Mercedes – holding off Valtteri Bottas, the man he replaced at the Silver Arrows, in the closing stages.

Verstappen’s win and Leclerc’s costly mistake breathed new life into this season’s championship battle, taking the Dutchman to second in the standings, 27 points adrift of his Ferrari rival.

After failing to score a single point, Hamilton is now 58 behind the Ferrari driver with just four rounds gone.

"We have been on it and it was a strong weekend," said Verstappen, who took pole position here on Friday before winning Saturday's sprint race and then taking the fastest lap en route to a commanding lights-to-flag victory.

"As a team we did very well and this one-two finish is well deserved. The start was positive and we judged the conditions.

"In the lead you have to dictate and it can be difficult but everything was well managed."

A deluge of rain in the hours before the race ensured a wet start and Verstappen mastered the getaway to lead the field into the opening chicane.

But Leclerc, second on the grid, was slow away from his marks and the Monegasque was usurped by Perez and Norris.

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