Verstappen realised early on that Hamilton would catch up with him

Thanks to a good start Max Verstappen managed to outshine Lewis Hamilton in the early stages of the Grand Prix at Imola. Red Bull Racing then chose to make an early pit stop, something that would benefit Lewis Hamilton enormously.

Because Bottas was already responding to Verstappen, Hamilton could afford to take a gamble and drive on. He felt good on the medium tyre and drove one fast lap time after another. Meanwhile, Verstappen was stuck behind Bottas, who had a damaged car.

Hamilton was well ahead of his two rivals and at one point had enough lead to stay ahead of them even after a pit stop. Exactly at the moment the team informed him of this, Esteban Ocon suddenly stopped along the track. On the recordings of the on-board radio it can be heard that Verstappen immediately noticed which way it was going to go.

As soon as engineer Gianpiero Lambiase informs him of Hamilton's lead, Verstappen asks: "Has he pitted or not?" Shortly after that the Virtual Safety Car phase starts and Verstappen can only laugh: "Haha, now the gap is even bigger". And indeed, Hamilton finally got back on the track well before Verstappen.