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Max Verstappen secured victory at Imola thanks to a stunning overtake of Oscar Piastre that surprised even the Dutchman, with the four-time world champion revealing he “had to laugh” after being overtaken by the McLaren driver on the first corner of the Grand Prix by Emilio Romagna.
The Dutchman started from second position but had a poor start and dropped to third on the approach to the first corner. However, with brilliant late braking, the four-time world champion passed George Russell and Piastre on the outside and took the lead in the race.
It was an incredible overtake that essentially gave him his fourth consecutive victory at Imola, and his second of the current season, closing the championship lead to 22 points and second-placed Norris to just 9 points.
Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver was asked if he had re-watched the overtaking footage, to which Verstappen replied:
“When I got home on Sunday – I did. But of course I already knew how it felt at that moment, but it’s nice to go back and see how tight it was.”
Comical reaction
The overtaking caused a comical reaction from the reigning world champion, who couldn’t believe what he had done.
“I had to laugh for a moment,” said the Dutchman, revealing that it was a reaction in the real moment: “No, not in front of the TV, I really had to laugh at Turn 3. I thought: this was good!”
After the race in Imola, Piasti was criticised for defending too aggressively, which gave Verstappen space to overtake. After re-watching the footage, the Red Bull driver believes that Piasti was not focused on him, but on Russell behind him.
"I think if you look back you'll see he was very worried about George because he was actually second. And I understand that," Verstappen added. "Of course I used that momentum. Then you can't react anymore because I already had the momentum."
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