Max Verstappen Leads Every Lap to Win 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

A clean start, an early scare in sector 14

Max Verstappen converted pole position into the lead without drama at the first corner, with Lando Norris slotting into second from grid 2 and Charles Leclerc holding third from grid 3.

Behind them, a yellow flag in sector 14 escalated to double-yellows within seven seconds of the opening lap, signalling an incident at the rear of the field. Conditions throughout were punishing: track temperature peaked at 46 °C with air at 25.4 °C and not a drop of rain across the entire 63-lap distance.

Verstappen warned: track limits and a black-and-white flag

Despite managing a race that was never seriously under threat, Verstappen accumulated a sequence of track-limits violations that drew rare regulatory attention. His lap-11 time was deleted at Turn 17, his lap-15 time at Turn 18, and his lap-20 time at Turn 6 — three transgressions across nine racing laps. By lap 24, the stewards issued a black-and-white flag to car 1 for track limits — the formal warning that carries the implicit threat of a penalty for any further offence.

Verstappen duly kept his wheels within bounds thereafter. The episode illustrated how Turn 6, Turn 17, and Turn 18 functioned as persistent policing flashpoints: Norris had a time deleted at Turn 6 on lap 62, Leclerc lost one at Turn 15 on lap 47, and Sergio Pérez was caught at Turn 17 on lap 17.

Albon's stop-go and the mid-race disciplinary action

The race's harshest sanction fell on Alexander Albon. The Williams driver was noted for an unsafe condition as early as lap 13; the stewards opened a formal investigation on lap 16 before handing down a 10-second stop/go penalty on lap 22 — one of the most severe punishments available without outright exclusion.

Late in the race, a Turn 9 incident on lap 56 brought Zhou Guanyu and Esteban Ocon into the stewards' attention, with Zhou accused of forcing Ocon off the circuit. The case was reviewed and required no further investigation by lap 57, allowing both drivers to continue without further consequence.

The result: Verstappen wins, McLaren doubles, Ferrari splits

Verstappen crossed the line in 1:25:25.252 to complete a commanding 63-lap exercise in control. Norris finished 0.725 seconds behind in second, with Leclerc a further 7.916 seconds back in third. Oscar Piastri took fourth, 14.132 seconds off the winner.

The McLaren and Ferrari arithmetic told its own story. Piastri's fourth place alongside Norris's second gave McLaren 30 combined points on the day; Ferrari's split result — Leclerc third and Carlos Sainz fifth, 22.325 seconds adrift — yielded 25. That five-point swing in McLaren's favour was the quiet subplot of the afternoon.

Lewis Hamilton gained two places from his grid-8 start to finish sixth, 35.104 seconds behind Verstappen. George Russell was seventh and set the race's outright fastest lap — a 1:18.589 on lap 54 — but received seven points for his finishing position rather than the eight that would accrue with a fastest-lap bonus, the additional point going uncredited in the classification. Pérez, who started 11th, recovered to eighth but ended 54.776 seconds behind his team-mate, a disparity that underscored a damaging weekend for the Mexican.

Championship picture after seven rounds

Verstappen's 25 points pushed his drivers' championship total to 161. Leclerc moves to second on 113, with Pérez third on 107 — the gap between the top two now 48 points. Norris climbs to fourth on 101, just six points behind Pérez and firmly in contention for the runner-up spots in the standings.

Carlos Sainz sits fifth on 93 points, meaning the fight for second place in the drivers' championship is compressed across Ferrari, Red Bull's second driver, and McLaren's leading man. Piastri's fourth-place finish moved him to 53 points in sixth, giving McLaren genuine constructors' momentum as the season reaches its summer phase. Verstappen, meanwhile, has won five of seven races — a dominance that his rivals are running out of rounds to answer.

Race result

Pos	Driver	Team	Time/Status	Pts
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:25:25.252	25
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.725	18
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+7.916	15
4	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+14.132	12
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+22.325	10
6	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+35.104	8
7	George Russell	Mercedes	+47.154	7
8	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	+54.776	4
9	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1:19.556	2
10	Yuki Tsunoda	RB F1 Team	+17.856	1