The Dutchman claimed a fine win in Red Bull’s anniversary race

A sensational move around the outside of championship leader Oscar Piastri at the first corner helped Max Verstappen to a dominant win in Red Bull Racing’s 400th Grand Prix on Sunday.

The reigning champ started second on the grid in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, but as it looked as though he would drop to third off the line, the Dutchman’s late braking move saw him shoot around the outside of George Russell and Piastri to claim the lead. From there, he barely looked back.

Untroubled by Piastri in the opening stint, Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris benefited from a virtual safety car period to change tyres, and the Dutchman kept Norris at arm’s length thereafter.

A full safety car, brought out by home crowd favourite Kimi Antonelli’s stranded Mercedes, bunched the pack up again, but Verstappen showed his muscle again to open a comfortable gap to claim his second win of the season, and his fourth in a row at Imola.

“To have the win here is fantastic,” he said. “The start wasn’t the best but I can say turn two was good! Once we got into the lead I think we showed what we could do with the pace of the car and I could push quite nicely.

“The race was a lot more promising than what I expected, which was really good for us, and the car felt a lot more stable. We have clearly made a step forward with the set up of the car.

“I am really happy with this result and from the Team’s side we did everything well: good strategy, good pit stops and really calm communication everywhere, which is what you need in a successful race.”

Team-mate Yuki Tsunoda made a strong recovery after a terrifying crash in Saturday’s qualifying session to claim the final point in 10th. The Japanese suffered a snap spin in the Villeneuve chicane, sending him into the barriers, rolling over before landing the right way up.

It meant he would have to start from the pitlane, but a brilliant drive saw him come through the field to claim a point.

He said: “A massive effort by the mechanics to get my car ready after yesterday, and I am glad that I was able to give back to the Team and thank them for the work they did, even if it was just one point. It’s small, but at least it is something for the team.

“I am still frustrated from yesterday, but I shook it off and I gave it my all today to be in the top 10 after starting in the pit lane.

“We’ve made a step this weekend and the qualifying setup was a big change, but we didn’t change much setup from yesterday and it was good to have more time to learn and experience the car in the race.”