Max Verstappen has praised the job done by his Red Bull team after a tremendous weekend in Imola that saw him win the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Having taken victory in the sprint race, the Dutchman led Sergio Perez home for the team’s first one-two since 2016 as Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both crashed, putting the Spaniard out of the race while the 24-year-old ended sixth.
Verstappen took the grand slam as he took pole, led every lap, set the fastest lap and won the race, so he has fully earned his stripes in Bologna.
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“It’s always tough to achieve something like that but already yesterday and the day before we were on it,” he said in a post-race interview.
“I think it was looking like a strong weekend. Today, you never know with the weather how competitive you’re going to be but I think as a team we did everything well.
“I think this one-two is very deserved.”
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The race was difficult to judge and even more treacherous to negotiate as it transitioned to dry conditions having started in the wet, so there were many different aspects that the reigning world champion had to execute perfectly.
“The start of course was very important but also afterwards, you know judging the conditions, judging when to swap to the slick tyres, and on the out lap with the slick tyres not to make mistakes,” he explained.
“In the lead, you have to always dictate the pace and it’s always a bit more difficult initially but yeah, everything was well managed.”
Red Bull have clawed back 38 of the 49-point deficit they had to Ferrari heading into the weekend, and Verstappen sits second in the Drivers’ Championship after his dominant victory.