The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola had some entertaining moments, but former F1 world champion Damon Hill has hailed two ‘very special’ drivers who stood out to him on Sunday.
For the first time since 2021, it appears as though Red Bull finally have two competitors on the grid in Ferrari and McLaren.
Charles Leclerc became the first Ferrari driver to stand on the podium at Imola since Michael Schumacher in 2006 and the visiting fans made their feelings very clear about another strong performance from the Monegasque driver.
He did well to hold off the charging Oscar Piastri who appears to have taken his performances up a level in the fully upgraded McLaren.
Further down the order, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda deserve credit for finishing in the points and they’ll both want to carry that form into Monaco.
However, Damon Hill wanted to celebrate how special Max Verstappen’s victory was at Imola and how close his rival Lando Norris got to overtaking him.
It was a far-from-perfect weekend for the Dutchman’s team but his quality shone through with Sergio Perez struggling further down the grid.
Norris appears to have a renewed level of confidence after his maiden Formula 1 win and nearly recorded back-to-back victories after a tremendous final stint.
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Damon Hill praises ‘special’ Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at Imola
Heading into qualifying at Imola, it was clear that Max Verstappen was not going to have everything his own way.
He had multiple complaints about how the RB20 was driving while McLaren appeared to be capable of matching their level.
Oscar Piastri set a marginally quicker time than Norris but his three-place penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen ended up having a huge impact on his race with overtaking nearly impossible.
Ferrari’s upgrade didn’t set the world alight as many expected it to but it appears to have opened up the gap to Mercedes and the rest of the field.
In the final ten laps, Norris showed that he had more life in his tyres than Verstappen and had very little trouble closing the gap.
Although he couldn’t pull off a remarkable overtake at Imola, Hill has lauded both drivers as ‘very special’ talents and although a title fight is unlikely in 2024, Verstappen isn’t going to have it all his own way this season.
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Posting on X after the race, Hill said: “He got pole. He won the race (again) but it was never a foregone conclusion.
“And in doing so he reminded us that he is very special talent. As is Lando. Great times in F1. Going to be a very interesting season after all. #f1”
Damon Hill won’t be the only person to recognise that there’s the potential for a special title battle between Verstappen and Norris in the coming seasons if Imola is anything to be judged by.
Despite winning five of the first seven races, Verstappen hasn’t been voted driver of the day yet by fans which highlights just how normal his domination of the sport has become.
On the other hand, Norris won the award once again on Sunday and his performances will be grabbing the attention of those in the Red Bull garage.
They’ll also be keeping a close eye on Oscar Piastri who looked exceptionally quick and it’s no wonder Helmut Marko has suggested he would love to hire both McLaren drivers one day.
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