Max Verstappen wins in Ferrari territory to make huge title statement as Lewis Hamilton is LAPPED by Red Bull driver and humiliated by teammate George Russell

Max Verstappen and Red Bull had an Emilia Romagna Grand Prix to remember, taking maximum points with Charles Leclerc spinning down to sixth, while Lewis Hamilton was humiliated in 14th.

Sergio Perez followed his world champion teammate home in second, with the podium unexpectedly capped off by McLaren’s British star Lando Norris.

Verstappen is delighted with his Red Bull back to its best

Red Bull took Ferrari to town just as they were looking too quick to catch

Meanwhile Hamilton had an absolute nightmare

Countryman George Russell impressively climbed to fourth from 11th, however, his teammate and seven-time champion Hamilton had one of his worst-ever races as he finished 14th.

Championship leader Leclerc had a commanding 40-point lead at the top as Ferrari returned home to Italy.

However, that advantage was wiped out as the Monegasque spun and hit the wall while chasing Perez for second.

Leclerc recovered after a brief pitstop to finish sixth, but Ferrari saw their homecoming end in disaster.

Carlos Sainz was the Grand Prix’s first retiree on lap one due to an unfortunate collision with Daniel Ricciardo, and Leclerc later joined his teammate with a trip off the tarmac.

That costly mistake saw Leclerc’s title lead reduced to 28 points, with Red Bull masterfully showing their title rivals how it’s done.

Leclerc was racing Perez for second before a dramatic spin left him in sixth

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They weren’t the only ones to put in a stunning display though, with young Brits Norris and Russell coming home in third and fourth respectively, far ahead of where their cars were expected to land.

Their countryman, Hamilton, had a start to the season hit an incredible new low, unable to gain any positions from his 14th place start.

The Mercedes driver spent much of the race stuck behind Pierre Gasly with his teammate Russell far off in the distance, and things later got far worse.

Hamilton couldn’t get past the Alpha Tauri while his teammate was 10 spots ahead

The sport’s most successful ever driver was astonishingly lapped by race-leader Verstappen late on, the man he contested last year’s championship with.

This season though, things couldn’t be any more different, with Verstappen’s self-titled ‘Very lovely Sunday’ putting his squad right back in the ascendancy.

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Source: TalkSport.com Motorsport

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