“I had to push flat out” - Max Verstappen reveals the extent of hardship in Imola GP

Max Verstappen revealed the issues he faced with the RB20's grip at Imola as he won the race by less than a second's gap on Lando Norris behind him. This was one of his closest finishes, given his dominance on the grid for the past two seasons.

The 26-year-old had a strong start to the race from pole position as he kept extending the lead from Norris in P2. While he did manage to build a gap of over six seconds, it started shortening in the final parts of the race. By lap 58 of 63, the gap between the Red Bull and the McLaren was down to 1.5 seconds. This was rather unexpected from Verstappen, but as he revealed after the race, he faced grip issues with the car, affecting the pace.

"The whole race I had to push flat out to try and make a gap initially. On the medium tyres we were quite strong. On the hard tyres it was more difficult to manage, especially the last 10 to 15 laps," Sky Sports quoted him as saying.

"I had no grip anymore. I was sliding a lot. I saw Lando closing in. The last 10 laps were flat out. It's difficult when the tyres were not working anymore and you have to go flat out. I couldn't afford to make too many mistakes. Luckily we didn't."

Max Verstappen was struggling with the car on Friday as well. After the end of the practice sessions, he told the media that the car was "severely off pace." However, by Saturday, Red Bull had seemingly more control over the grid. A slipstream from another car helped Verstappen get the pole position, which he then turned into a race win.

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Max Verstappen reveals reason for poor stint on hard tires for Red Bull

Verstappen's second and final stint was on the hard (C3) tires, which he seemingly struggled with the most. He managed his pace well with the medium tires at the start of the race.

He revealed that a lack of information on the car was one of the reasons the final stint didn't go well in the race.

"We changed a lot on the car. We didn't have a lot of information in the race. Maybe that's why on the hard tyres it was more difficult," Max Verstappen said.

"From where we started the weekend to now, we can be incredibly pleased with pole and the win," he added.

Max Verstappen extended his lead in the championship with another race win. He sits at the top with 161 points in his bag, followed by Charles Leclerc with 113 points. He gained a place in the championship today after his P3 finish, bringing Ferrari's first podium at Imola since 2006.

Meanwhile, Lando Norris's P2 finish helped him extend his lead from Carlos Sainz in fourth place with 101 points.