Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen’s first words after Turn 1 overtake at Imola

The key moment at the F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was the very first turn.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, starting on the front row behind pole-sitter Oscar Piastri of McLaren, got the better of it.

Verstappen skilfully and beautifully navigated around the outside of Piastri to overtake him for a lead which he maintained until the chequered flag at Imola.

2025 F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Race Result from Round 7

Verstappen ended Piastri’s three-race winning run, and took his fourth consecutive victory at Imola.

Notably, Verstappen's brilliant manouevre was a response to Piastri twice getting the better of him, most recently in Miami.

"I just braked too early,” Piastri admitted in his parc ferme interview.

“It was a good move by Max, as well.

“Disappointing, obviously. But we made a few wrong calls after that anyway.”

Max Verstappen overtook Oscar Piastri at F1 Emilia-Romagna GP

Verstappen said: "The start itself wasn't particularly great - but I was still on the outside line. The normal line.

“So I was like I'm going to try and send it around the outside' and it worked really well!

"Of course, that unleashed our pace because when we were in the lead. The car was good. I could look after my tyres.”

Piastri was later overtaken by McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who finished second.

"I tried my best to hang on but just didn't have the grip,” Piastri said about Norris’ overtake.

“I tried my best but it was inevitable he would get past but I wasn't going to give up without a fight."

Norris said: "We had a good little battle at the end between Oscar and myself which was tense, but always good fun.

"A good race - for us as a team, second and third is great. Of course you would love to be up there fighting against Max. But they were too good for us today."

Verstappen navigated his way through two Safety Car periods at Imola to win the grand prix.

Piastri still tops the F1 standings, with Norris 13 points behind.

Verstappen is third, 22 points shy of the leader.

Next weekend's F1 Monaco Grand Prix is an immediate opportunity to attack Piastri's lead again for the resurgent Verstappen.