FORMULA ONE: Max Verstappen shows class to dominate Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Speaking to the media after the race, winner Verstappen said: “The start itself wasn’t particularly great, but I was still on the normal line and I thought I would try and send it round the outside and it worked really well.

“That then unleashed our pace because once we were in the lead, the car was good and I could look after my tyres, we had a very good pace today.

“It’s a massive improvement from Friday, and I’m very pleased with that. That virtual safety car was quite handy to pit, even on the hard compound, our pace was very strong, but then there was a safety car, so the field was back together. Even on the restart, we managed it really well and brought it home.

“I’m incredibly proud of everyone, it’s been a very important week for us, and the car has performed really well, and also I think the execution of the whole race was very good.”

Lando Norris added: “It was a long race, from that perspective it was not easy to overtake, but we did what we could. Max drove a good race, they were quick today, probably a little quicker. We had a good little battle at the end between Oscar and myself, which was tense, but always good fun.

“A good race. For us as a team, second and third are great. Of course, you would love to be up there fighting against Max, but they were too good for us today,” he said.

Piastri said: “At the beginning, I just braked too early, it was a good move by Max. It was disappointing, but we made a few wrong calls after that.

It wasn’t our best Sunday, there’s a few things to look at and review. Well done to Max and Red Bull, they had pace today. We’ll look back and see what we can do better.”

The next race will be at Monaco next weekend.