Max Verstappen becomes the first driver to win four consecutive races at Imola as he cruised ahead during a rather chaotic race.
The start saw Oscar Piastri get off the line well, but seemed to lose a bit of speed on the run to turn 1. Verstappen was able to outbreak the championship leader and made an inch perfect overtake around the outside to take the lead of the race.
The Haas of Esteban Ocon pit on the opening lap onto hard tyres, potentially trying to get into clean air and getting his mandatory pit stop out of the way.
The early laps saw a few close battles, with Lando Norris following Russell in the fight for third, Hamilton getting stuck behind Antonelli and Leclerc being close behind Gasly.
Leclerc would find a run alongside heading into Piratella corner, and as Gasly would try to hang his car around the outside, the Frenchman would find himself quickly running out of track, heading into the gravel and losing a handful of positions in the process.
Lando Norris would begin to hassle Russell, but would not be able to line up a move into turn 1. He would get a better exit though and would attempt to overtake at the Villeneuve chicane before successfully pulling it off on lap 11.
Both George Russell and Charles Leclerc would be among those who would pit early, doing so on lap 12. Piastri would come in just two laps later, but Verstappen and Norris would both stay out and extend their stops.
It quickly became clear that staying out longer was the better call in the short term, as Piastri would have to manage his way through traffic, all the while Verstappen could just keep ploughing along in clean air.
Norris would go on to pit on lap 29, just under 10 seconds behind Verstappen in the lead, having failed to make any real gains in the clean air.
But he would find himself without any luck as the Virtual Safety Car would come out just as he made his way round his out lap after Ocon’s car gave out.
This played perfectly into the hands of Max Vewrstappen, who now had a 20 second gap over Piastri would go on to make a second pitstop under the VSC, making way to Norris and Albon.
Charles Leclerc, who voiced his frustration over the VSC, had a good jump on Lance Stroll when racing resumed, but Stroll stayed firm.
Hamilton would finally manage to get past Andrea Kimi Antonelli on lap 34, carrying a lot of speed around the outside of turn 1 to make the move stick.
Hamilton would go on to make the exact same move on Hadjar not long after, pulling himself up into the top 5 now.
Antonelli appeared to have lost a lot of pace after the pit stop, now losing out to Charles Leclerc, being passed down the straight on lap 38.
Piastri would gain a lot of time on third placed Albon, and would make light work on the Williams driver as he would climb onto the podium position on lap 40.
The race pace of the Ferrari appeared strong at this stage in the race, with Leclerc now getting into the top 6 by passing Hadjar on lap 42.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli would have his power unit fail on lap 46, and would pull over around the same point as Esteban Ocon on track, failing to finish his first F1 race on home soil.
This would bring out a full safety car, wiping out the entire advantage that Verstappen have, though he will take solace in being able to take a free pit stop onto new tyres.
Norris and Hamilton would be others towards the front to come in, though Piastri and Leclerc would stay out, and Albon would initially come in after one under the safety car.
As green flag running got back under wa, Verstappen made a good getaway to keep everyone in formation.
Albon, with his new tyres, was harassing Leclerc on his old tyres, but was unable to get by early on.
Norris was stuck behind Piastri on the older tyres himself, which allowed Verstappen to stroll further away in the lead.
Hamilton would overtake his former teammate in George Russell, regaining sixth place by going around the outside of turn 1 on lap 57.
Lando Norris would make a similar move just one lap later, finally taking 2nd place with a hard but fair move.
Albon would attempt to hang his car around the outside of Leclerc on lap 60, but Leclerc would squeeze Albon wide, with the Williams driver needing to bail out across the gravel, losing a position to Hamilton, who would go on to overtake Leclerc just one lap later.
Leclerc would be told to give back the position on the final lap, granting Albon another top 5 finish.
Max Verstappen would take a comfortable victory in the end, 6 seconds ahead of Norris at the chequered flag.
This result means that Piastri now leads the championship by 13 points, with Verstappen now also 22 points behind.
The next race is the Monaco Grand Prix, which takes place on May 25th.
