Grand Prix of Imola: Verstappen, Perez land a Red Bull 1-2 punch on Ferrari at Imola

It all goes right for defending series Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, just as it all goes wrong for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari

Max Verstappen displayed the speed and the poise that delivered the title to the Dutchman last season as Red Bull Racing quieted talk that his title defense was in trouble with a dominant run at Imola.

It was particularly satisfying for Red Bull with Sergio Perez finishing second and with it coming at what is Ferrari's home track, which was sold out at 62,000, many dressed in red and looking for Charles Leclerc and the Prancing Horse team to continue their early season charge.

"It's always tough to achieve something like this," Verstappen said. "Today, you never know, with the weather, how competitive you are going to be, but as a team we did everything well and this 1-2 is well deserved.

"The start was very important, but afterwards [also], judging the conditions and when to swap to the slick tires and on the out lap on slick tires to not to make mistakes. In the lead, you have to always dictate the pace, and it's always a bit more difficult initially but everything was well managed."

With rain playing havoc at Imola and changing strategies, Ferrari ran into trouble before the first lap was even completed when Carlos Sainz Jr. was punted off the track by Daniel Ricciardo, ending his race.

And they ran into trouble late when Leclerc put a wheel wrong for the first time this season, bouncing his Ferrari over the curb, spinning and narrowly avoiding bigger trouble by only lightly brushing the tire barrier. Leclerc, running in third at the time, was able to continue and fought his way back from ninth to finish sixth.

"We will learn from this and become stronger for next time," Leclerc radioed his team at the finish.

Next time will be May 8 at Miami for the inaugural Grand Prix of Miami, but until then Verstappen and Red Bull's message has been delivered.

There is a lot of racing yet to come.

Your unofficial top 10:

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

2. Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing

3. Lando Norris, McLaren

4. George Russell, Mercedes

5. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

6. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

7. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri

8. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin

9. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

10. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

On the back foot

Ferrari: What can you say? From the start of the weekend it just seemed like things were not going to go the way they wanted it to, but to throw away a possible third-place spot to pit for tires and a shot at grabbing a point for fastest lap of the race? Well, we saw how that worked out -- Leclerc bounced over some curbing as he pushed too hard with track conditions a bit iffy, and they threw it all away. Compounded with Sainz's shunt and subsequent DNF, they probably can't wait to get to Miami in two weeks.

Alpine: It was more bad luck that anything else as Fernando Alonso, who started 10th, had a chunk of his side pod disappear after an altercation with Mick Schumacher at the start, which resulted in an early trip to the garages for the Spaniard. Esteban Ocon finished 14th and ran afoul of the race stewards for his unsafe release in the pits that saw him and Lewis Hamilton touch ever so slightly.

Running in place

McLaren, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri and Haas all had up-and-down finishes. Norris collected a podium finish for McLaren but Ricciardo had a disastrous race -- striking Sainz at the start and the subsequent pit stop he made afterward put him on an alternate strategy that saw him run at the back of the pack most of the day. Ricciardo finished 18th. Likewise, Russell was Mercedes' top finisher at fourth but Hamilton never looked comfortable and finished a dismal 13th, a situation that had Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff apologizing to Hamilton for giving him a car that was "not worthy of a world champion". Alfa had Valtteri Bottas finishing fifth but Zhou Guanyu ended up 15th, although considering that Zhou started the race from pit lane (due to his crash in the Sprint race), perhaps we are being too harsh. Yuki Tsunoda was AlphaTauri's best finisher at seventh but Pierre Gasly was 12th. Kevin Magnussen hung on for Haas to finish ninth but Schumacher, who started 10th, had terrible luck and ended up 17th.

Best foot forward

Aston Martin: The team honestly could not have asked for more, with Vettel finishing eighth and Stroll 10th, and now carry some much needed momentum into Miami for May 8.

Red Bull Racing: Total domination. No other way to put it. Verstappen and Perez showed that the car is certainly capable of winning another championship. It was particularly interesting to note that Perez was able to hold off Leclerc, as the Red Bull cars displayed a noticeable advantage in straight-line power. Many may make a statement that Ferrari were at a disadvantage due to race control deciding to disable DRS at the start and for much of the race, but when it was allowed as the track dried it didn't make much difference for Leclerc, who could pull close but not get past Perez's car.

[Apr 24, 2022 at 10:37 am ET · Richard Biebrich Jr.]

Norris earns the third spot on the podium, followed by Russell, Bottas, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Vettel, Magnussen and Stroll as your top 10.

[Apr 24, 2022 at 10:36 am ET · Richard Biebrich Jr.]

And that's your race, with Verstappen and Perez in total control for a Red Bull 1-2 finish.

[Apr 24, 2022 at 10:26 am ET · Richard Biebrich Jr.]

Leclerc is past Magnussen and into eighth, but how many places can he make up with six laps to go?

[Apr 24, 2022 at 10:25 am ET · Richard Biebrich Jr.]

And with all that going on, Tsunoda has gotten around Vettel and into sixth. Both are having their best race of the season.