F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix LIVE RESULTS: Verstappen wins and LAPS Hamilton, Sainz OUT in Ferrari nightmare

Signing off from Emilia Romagna

That brings an end to our coverage of another eventful Imola Grand Prix that finished in a one-two for Red Bull, and another victory for reigning champ Max Verstappen.

The season reconvenes in a fortnight when Miami plays host to the fastest stars in sport, and we'll be right here with all the headlines as they happen.

Until then, goodbye - and drive safely.

Eighth like victory for Vettel

Former world champion Sebastian Vettel finished down the field in eighth-place at Imola - and then declared it to be 'like a victory'.

The German maintains that the result is as good as a win considering how uncompetitive Aston Martin’s AMR22 Formula 1 car is.

Vettel was joined in the points by teammate Lance Stroll, who came in tenth.

“For us, it’s like a victory,” Vettel said afterwards. “To be honest, we are not the fastest at the minute. I think we are pretty much at the other side of the field, but we did really well.

“The weekend helped us with the conditions, but we managed to capitalise. We did great job on calling for the dries, and everybody else then I think copied what we did."

Lando shock at podium finish

Bristolian Lando Norris expressed his shock at his third place finish in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, indicating that he didn't expect to see him or McLaren on the podium this season after the start they made.

The 22-year-old crossed the line in fourth position but was promoted to third after Charles Leclerc's error was accounted for.

The result highlights a huge upturn in performance since the season opener in Bahrain when McLaren failed to trouble the scorers.

“I'm surprised to be here, but it feels amazing,” admitted Norris afterwards.

“From where we were three weeks ago, four weeks ago, a month ago to be on a podium, I genuinely didn’t think we would be on the podium all year after Bahrain. So it’s quite a shock.

“Maybe it's not surprising after the kind of progress we’ve made over the last month, but definitely did not expect a podium with how much quicker the Red Bulls and the Ferraris are."

Morning, F1 FANS

Max Verstappen reignited his title defence - while Mercedes apologised to Lewis Hamilton for his 'undriveable' car.

Red Bull's Verstappen won easily in Imola as championship leader Charles Leclerc sent himself spinning down to sixth place.

Leclerc's championship lead over Verstappen is down to 27 points after four GPs, with Ferrari's mood worsened by Carlos Sainz crashing out on lap one.

Meanwhile, Lando Norris was hailed by his McLaren team for never making mistakes after he took third behind Red Bull's Sergio Perez.

George Russell was fourth but Mercedes team-mate Hamilton was 13th, arguably his worst ever performance.

Team boss Toto Wolff told seven-time F1 king Hamilton: “Sorry for what you have had to drive today. I know this is undriveable.

“We are not good enough for a world champion."

Hamilton himself said: "A weekend to forget... I am out of the championship, for sure.

"I will still keep working as hard as I can and pull it back together somehow.”

Meanwhile, jubilant Norris hailed his surprise podium joy as a 'mixture of hard work and these conditions'.

Wolff sheepish over Hamilton's 'undriveable' car

Lewis Hamilton got a grovelling apology from his boss over his ‘undriveable’ Mercedes car which is ‘not worthy of a world champion,’ writes BEN HUNT.

The Brit again ruled himself out of the F1 title race after just FOUR races following his humiliating 13th at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Merc chief Toto Wolff told Hamilton: “Sorry for what you have had to drive today. I know this is undriveable.

“We are not good enough for a world champion, not worthy for a world champion.”

Mercedes team-mate George Russell claims the car’s  violent bouncing at high speed is so bad that it causes severe CHEST PAIN.

Wolff added: “We need to fix the car. I think we can make a step in understanding the car, bring development to it which will fix the bouncing.”

Hamilton, 37, has suffered mechanical failures, accidents and not finished races. But this result in Italy — based on pure pace alone — is surely the lowest ebb of the career of the seven-time world champion.

He said: “I am out of the championship, for sure, no question. I will keep working as hard as I can and try to somehow put it back together.”

Max: We did everything well

Imola winner Max Verstappen hailed Red Bull's 'well managed' weekend.

Verstappen started on pole and held his nerve in drying conditions after failing to finish in Bahrain and Australia.

He also won the Saturday sprint race and won a bonus point for setting the fastest lap, earning a total of 34 points from the weekend.

He said: "We were on it and it was looking like a strong weekend and as a team we did everything very well.

"Judging the conditions and knowing when to swap tyres, and judging the pace, everything was well managed."

However, a miserable weekend for Hamilton was compounded as he saw teammate George Russell finish in fourth place.

While there was also an unexpected podium for Lando Norris, who was third in his McLaren behind Red Bull's Sergio Perez.

Norris said: "It was an amazing race. The team deserved it from where we were at race one to scoring a podium is incredible.

"It is hard work. A lot of time and effort is being put in and we have been able to capitalise on these conditions, so a mixture of hard work and these conditions and it pays off."

How it all looks now

Max Verstappen's Imola victory narrowed the gap to 27 points on title leader Charles Leclerc - after the Ferrari driver's spin condemned him to sixth place.

Here's the championship standings after today's 1-2-3 of world champ Verstappen, Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez and McLaren ace Lando Norris in third.

1. Charles Leclerc 86

2. Max Verstappen 59

3. Sergio Perez 54

4. George Russell 49

5. Carlos Sainz 38

6. Lando Norris 35

7. Lewis Hamilton 28

8. Valtteri Bottas 24

9. Esteban Ocon 20

10. Kevin Magnussen 15

Race recap

Max Verstappen wins the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix!

Christian Horner says on the radio: “Well done Max! Great job!”

A Red Bull one-two and Englishman Lando Norris on the podium.

1 Vertsappen

2 Perez

3 Norris

4 Lando

5 Russell

Lots of pain, but no gain

George Russell claims Mercedes' porpoising problems are hurting his back as much as the team's hopes of being competitive.

The aerodynamic problem called porpoising shudders the car up and down violently.

And Russell said: "The bouncing was the most extreme I have ever felt.

"I hope the team finds a solution because it is not sustainable for the drivers to continue at this level.

"This is the first weekend I have been struggling with my back and chest pains from the severity of the bouncing.

"But it is just what we have to do to get the fastest lap times out of the car."

Lando close to getting a winning car say McLaren

McLaren boss Zak Brown hailed third-placed Lando Norris for never making mistakes and reckons the Bristolian could soon have a car good enough to win races.

Brown told Sky Sports: "It was a good race, Lando drove really well.

"Lando doesn't make mistakes, he's very fast and and hopefully we can give him a car to win around here - hopefully soon."

Fans say Sky Sports 'trolled' Hamilton

Fans have claimed that Lewis Hamilton was trolled by a brutal graphic during his disappointing outing at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

It was another nightmare display from the Mercedes driver who finished 13th in Sunday's race, which was won by his Red Bull rival Max Verstappen.

After finishing third in the 2022 season opener in Bahrain, he then finished tenth in Saudi Arabia before coming home in fourth in Australia last time out.

His horror show in Imola has left him in seventh place in the F1 standings, with the British legend a whopping 58 points behind leader Charles Leclerc.

To make matters worse worse for Hamilton, he was lapped by Dutch star Verstappen in lap 41.

And prior to letting the 24-year-old pass him, a graphic appeared on Sky Sports F1's broadcast of the race unjustly showing the gap between the two.

Hamilton, who is part of Sir Martin Broughton's consortium to buy Chelsea, was not in contention to pose a threat in the race in lap 39.

Still, the broadcast decided to show that Verstappen was leading him by more than 77 seconds. Sharing a snap of the visual, one Twitter user posted: "F1 CHOSE VIOLENCE WITH THIS GRAPHIC." Responding to the tweet, another fan replied: "Yeah that’s kinda rough. really necessary F1?"

High George

George Russell's fourth place not only eclipsed the 13th place for Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton it also gave him a unique record this season.

After four races this season, he's the only driver who's always finished in the top five.

Leclerc takes blame

Charles Leclerc took full responsibility as his spin ruined his podium hopes at the Imola GP.

The Ferrari ace finished sixth after recklessly pushing too much.

Team-mate Carlos Sainz had crashed out on the first lap.

Hamilton: Of course I can't win title

Lewis Hamilton has already conceded his mediocre Mercedes has no chance of contesting the title this year.

After finishing 13th at Imola, the Brit said: "A weekend to forget, that is for sure.

"I am out of the championship, for sure.

"There's no question about that. I will still keep working as hard as I can and pull it back together somehow."

Sainz: Not the way I wanted to go out

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz says his early crash exit was a 'tough moment' to take.

He told Sky Sports: "It's was very bad, definitely. A tough moment.

"It's not at all the way I wanted to go out in front of the fans.

"Turn 2 can be bad, but there are always these tough moments in the life of the sportsman and you have to go through them.

"As long as I keep working hard, the good times will come."

Hamilton's car 'undriveable'

Fascinating audio from Mercedes chief Toto Wolff to Lewis Hamilton after his woeful race, finishing in 13th place.

Wolff said to Hamilton: "Sorry for what you had to drive today. I know it was undriveable. This was a terrible race.”

Hamilton replied: “No worries, Toto. Just keep working hard."

Wolff: "We will come out of this."

Last lap

15 second advantage for Max Vertsappen!

Bottos tries to overtake Russell but he stays fourth.

Leclerc in sixth.

Hamilton in 14th!

Top 10 from Imola

1 Vertsappen

2 Perez

3 Norris

4 Russell

5 Bottas

6 Tsunoda

7 Leclerc

8 Vettel

9 Magnussen

10 Stroll

Leclerc now chasing

Three laps to go and light rain could be on it's way.

LECLERC SPINS OUT

Leclerc spins out.

He'd changed to soft tyres, eyeing an extra point for the fastest lap.

The 24-year-old bounced over the chicane and off onto the gravel.

He makes it back on the track, but can't turn left!

The Ferrari is now back in the pits.

Tsunoda into eighth

The Japanese driver takes it past Kevin Magnussen.

The AlphaTauri man is up to eighth.