Max Verstappen was coy on lapping Sir Lewis Hamilton at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as the pair experienced highly contrasting fortunes in the race.
Verstappen achieved the grand slam out front as he claimed a dominant victory from Sergio Perez, securing Red Bull’s first one-two finish since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Hamilton, meanwhile, was battling to try and break into the top 10 when he got caught up behind the Aston martin of Lance Stroll, and he would then lose out in the pit stop phase to Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly, and he spent the rest of the race running in P14.
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On lap 41, the Dutchman lapped the man he battled for the championship in 2021 as they claimed 18 race wins between them, making for sobering viewing for Mercedes and Hamilton fans.
“Ouch that is going to hurt,” said commentator David Croft on Sky Sports, but the reigning world champion did not want to emphasise its significance after the race.
“Mercedes has been slow all year, so for me it’s not anything exciting, it just happens,” said Verstappen.
Red Bull had the beating pace-wise of Ferrari all weekend after they took a gamble on an upgrade, ahead of the sprint race, which seemed to pay off handsomely.
“It was a good weekend for us, we needed it. I didn’t expect us to have a weekend like this,” he explained.
“But when you have a weekend at the end like this, that’s incredible: a one-two for the team but also maximum points scored. Also the way we handled the race, we didn’t really make any mistakes. A very positive weekend.”
Conversely to Red Bull, Ferrari suffered a horrible day as Carlos Sainz was wiped out on the first lap by Daniel Ricciardo, before a spin for Charles Leclerc saw him go from third to sixth in what turned out to be a horrible day in front of their adoring home crowd.
Mattia Binotto thanked the Tifosi for their unconditional support of the Scuderia, and vowed to come back stronger after a miserable Sunday.
“We are not only a team, we are a family,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“We are a family still and together with our Tifosi so of course [we are] very happy to see so many people here, so many Tifosi.
“They are cheering, they are still cheering now in the pitlane and on the main straight so I think we are a bit unhappy for the results of today but I think we need to keep the heads up.
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“That’s part of racing. Some races may go wrong as it has been today but we’ve still got a competitive package and I think we need to keep the smile on and look forward to the next races.”
Ferrari now lead Red Bull by just 11 points in the Constructors’ Standings after a tremendous weekend in Bologna for the four-time champions.