Max Verstappen claimed the title of F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, ahead of his Red Bull Racing teammate Sergio Perez and Lando Norris of McLaren at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, northern Italy.
Verstappen led the race from the start as the sprint race winner from a day earlier.
"To have a weekend like this for both of us with a one-two for the team is just incredible. It was a very lovely Sunday!" said Verstappen, quoted by the formula1.com.
"It was a tough race but an enjoyable one. Rule number one in these conditions is to finish. It was difficult because in these conditions it is easy to make a mistake and put a foot wrong but we managed a clean race and kept out of trouble, which was pretty important," said Perez.
"This has to be one of our best ever results, to take the maximum points across the whole weekend, bar one, was incredible. Both Max and Checo have driven brilliantly to secure our first one-two finish since Malaysia in 2016. I'm very proud of the entire team, from everyone at the track and those back in the factory at Milton Keynes, they delivered a phenomenal performance," said Red Bull Racing's team boss Christian Horner.
Rad Bull Racing's Max Verstappen (top left) and Sergio Perez (top right) celebrate their one-two finish during the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, Italy, April 24, 2022. /CFP
"P3, what a result! We certainly didn't expect that coming into this weekend, so I'm happy to be leaving with a podium," said Norris.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari still ranks first at 86 points, a large gap away from second- and third-ranked Verstappen and Perez at 59 and 54 points, respectively.
"This was a weekend to forget, that's for sure," said seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes who finished 13th during the race.
"This weekend, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We live and we learn, and there's not much else to say. I'll keep working as hard as I can to try and pull it back together, somehow."
Chinese racer Zhou Guanyu of Alpha Romeo finished 15th in the race.
"Not the result I wanted today, but there are still a lot of positives from me to take out of this weekend," Zhou said. "The rest of my race was quite uneventful, but I can still look at the things I learned in difficult conditions and make sure I get back stronger in the next races."
A review of the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix