Max Verstappen Pinpoints Moment That ‘Unleashed’ His Pace to Win Emilia Romagna GP

Max Verstappen reveals the exact moment that helped him leave Oscar Piastri in the dust and win the Emilia Romagna GP.

Max Verstappen Pinpoints Moment That ‘Unleashed’ His Pace to Win Emilia Romagna GP

Max Verstappen winning the 2025 Emilia Romagna GP (via Red Bull Content Pool)

Max Verstappen has defied all odds and emerged victorious at the Emilia Romagna GP. The Dutchman suffered from mediocre results throughout the practice sessions but achieved a great turnaround from Qualifying onwards. Verstappen snatched the race lead from Oscar Piastri in Lap 1 itself and never looked back despite multiple safety cars. Now, the 27-year-old has pinpointed the exact moment that helped him surpass his rivals with a great lead on the track.

Max Verstappen was vocal about the issues faced in the RB21 since the beginning of the Imola weekend. The Dutchman also nearly missed out on the pole position to Oscar Piastri by a very minuscule gap. As such, the 27-year-old looked strong in pace despite the inferior pace of the challenger as compared to the McLaren.

Despite taking the lead heading into Turn 2 of the first lap, Max Verstappen reckons that the start wasn’t that great. However, he took the outside line and stuck to an ambitious move and full send his car. This helped him take on the lead early on and never lose it for the entirety of the race. The 27-year-old pointed out that thankfully, his risk paid off and worked out well in the end.

The start wasn’t particularly great but I was on the outside line, the normal line and I just thought well, I’ll try and send it and it worked out well.

Max Verstappen said in a post-race interview

Immediately after snatching the race lead from Oscar Piastri, Verstappen gained great confidence and was able to unleash the maximum pace. At one point before the second safety car restart, the Dutchman had an astonishing gap of 44s to the trailing driver. The Dutchman didn’t fail to acknowledge the ‘handy’ timing of the safety cars that helped him further cement his lead and ultimately the victory. In addition to this, the challenger remained strong in pace on the Hard compounds and helped him bring home the win.

Then I could unleash the pace, we were good on our tyres. The VSC was handy, even on the hard tyre our pace was strong. The restart we managed well and brought it home.

Max Verstappen added

Christian Horner reveals Max Verstappen’s ‘win it or bin it’ approach against Oscar Piastri

Max Verstappen did not look back at all after taking the lead as he built a big gap to Oscar Piastri from the get-go. This disabled any chances of late-race competition from either of the dominant McLarens. Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, waged his opinions on Verstappen’s masterclass in the Emilia Romagna GP that helped him emerge victorious in the end.

Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri (via XPB images)
Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri (via XPB images)

Christian Horner asserts that Red Bull has definitely found improvements on the car, especially since the mediocre outing during the initial practice sessions. The Englishman applauded Max Verstappen’s start and commitment to winning the race that helped him eventually win in the end. The 51-year-old also funnily highlighted that Verstappen’s ‘win it or bin it’ mentality against Piastri helped him take the lead early on.

We have definitely improved the car from Friday. The start and his commitment, was win it or bin it, and Oscar left space.

Christian Horner said in a post-race interview

Max Verstappen has proved why he is a four-time world champion as he has stood strong despite facing difficult situations. The 27-year-old has further decreased the point disparity between him and the two McLarens at the forefront. Now, Verstappen will aim to achieve a pole position at the Monaco GP to extend his winning streak and contend for the drivers’ title early on this year.

Read More: Lando Norris Declares Max Verstappen ‘Quicker’ Than McLaren After Dutchman’s Emilia Romagna GP Win