Max Verstappen reignites title challenge as he wins Imola GP with Charles Leclerc in 6th

Max Verstappen reignited his title challenge at a damp Imola on Sunday afternoon as he took victory ahead of Sergio Perez and Lando Norris, with championship leader Charles Leclerc spinning in the final third of the race and finishing in 6th place.

Verstappen got a much better launch off of the line than he did for the Sprint yesterday, with him able to cover off Leclerc as the field charged down to turn one at a wet Imola, following heavy showers prior to lights out, though the race itself would prove a dry one.

The Dutchman led into turn one, with team-mate Perez in behind as Leclerc dropped down to fourth place.

More woe would follow on lap one for the Scuderia, meanwhile, as Carlos Sainz suffered more ill-fortune and was tapped into the gravel trap by Daniel Ricciardo, who himself appeared to have taken a nudge from behind.

Whilst the Aussie managed to escape and resume running, though, Sainz's race was run, seeing him score no points for the second Grand Prix running - at least he managed to get five points during Sprint on Saturday.

Further back, compatriot Fernando Alonso also had to retire early on in the race, with a panel on his Alpine coming clean off; whilst in all the commotion, Kevin Magnussen, George Russell and Valtteri Bottas enjoyed a good battle as high as fifth, with the Briton coming out on top.

Rain continued to threaten - though it would ultimately never come - meanwhile, and so the first pitstops would prove crucial, with Daniel Ricciardo, now running near the back of the pack, one of the first to roll the dice.

Once he'd gotten around a couple of times without throwing it off, that was the cue for the rest of the pack to stop, too, with slicks the order of the day.

It was frantic in the pitlane, with Esteban Ocon nearly collecting Lewis Hamilton as he left his pitbox - earning the Frenchman a penalty - whilst the fight between Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez saw the Ferrari man appear to leapfrog the Red Bull driver - only for the Mexican to regain P2 soon after.

A dry line had emerged nicely now, but off-line the surface was still wet and, with no DRS enabled thus far, overtakes were proving hard to execute as drivers were wary of going onto the still slightly damp surface.

Indeed, Lewis Hamilton was one of those to suffer because of that, with him down in P14 behind Pierre Gasly.

Another tough weekend for Hamilton, which again demonstrated how far his Mercedes car has dropped away in 2022 - he'd eventually finish in 13th.

max verstappen in the red bull — IMOLA, ITALY - APRIL 24: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 ahead of lapped cars Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT03 and Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W13 during the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on April 24, 2022 in Imola, Italy. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

IMOLA, ITALY - APRIL 24: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 ahead of lapped cars Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia AlphaTauri AT03 and Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W13 during the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on April 24, 2022 in Imola, Italy. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Max, meanwhile, breathed life back into his championship challenge with a win today, with him running and hiding out in front whilst Leclerc was left in a spin in the chase for second.

Pushing hard behind Perez, he span into the barriers but managed to keep his Ferrari going. He'd need new tyres and a nose cone, however, and dropped down as far as ninth - though he would work his way back up to P6.

The first real chink in the Leclerc title challenge, then, and one Verstappen managed to maximise by taking victory and the fastest lap.

The Dutchman is still a fair way off Leclerc in the title battle - 27 points in fact, but this certainly has closed things up a bit, and shows there's still plenty of life left in this long championship fight.

Full Grand Prix result:

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

4. George Russell (Mercedes)

5. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)

6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

7. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)

8. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)

9. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

11. Alexander Albon (Williams)