Verstappen: Good to see the upgrades worked on the car

Verstappen missed out on pole by the slightest of margins to Oscar Piastri but made up for that with a sensational pass—despite not having the best of starts—on the Australian as well as Mercedes' George Russell, who had a lightning start.

That move by the reigning Formula 1 champion proved crucial for achieving the win, as Red Bull delivered a perfect strategy, not reacting when McLaren blinked first and pitted Piastri, which meant Verstappen benefitted from a Virtual Safety Car to get a cheap pit stop. He later survived a full Safety Car period.

"To have the win here is fantastic," Verstappen said in Red Bull Racing's race report. "The start wasn't the best but I can say turn two was good!

"Once we got into the lead I think we showed what we could do with the pace of the car and I could push quite nicely. The race was a lot more promising than what I expected, which was really good for us, and the car felt a lot more stable.

"We have clearly made a step forward with the set up of the car," the Dutchman hailed. "I looked after my tyres quite well and it felt really good on both of the compounds. It took a while for the car to be cleared during the VSC but we were able to pit which was good.

"It was a bit of a reset and I could also pull away as Oscar had used tyres. I am really happy with this result and from the Team's side we did everything well: good strategy, good pit stops and really calm communication everywhere, which is what you need in a successful race," he explained.

What made the victory sweeter was that it was Red Bull Racing's 400th Formula 1 weekend; Verstappen said: "It was a big weekend for us and good to see that the upgrades worked on the car.

"Big thank you to everyone here and at the factory for this, this makes our 400th race even more special. Hopefully we can extract what we learnt here today a bit more often.

"It has been a really positive weekend for us and we will keep on going, keep trying to be better and of course enjoy it a bit tonight," the winner of 65 grands prix concluded.

Yuki Tsunoda started his race from the pitlane after his massive crash in qualifying on Saturday and did well to finish in the points—tenth.

"A tough weekend," Tsunoda said. "A massive effort by the mechanics to get my car ready after yesterday, and I am glad that I was able to give back to the Team and thank them for the work they did, even if it was just one point. It's small, but at least it is something for the Team.

"I am still frustrated from yesterday, but I shook it off and I gave it my all today to be in the top 10 after starting in the pit lane.

"We've made a step this weekend and the Qualifying setup was a big change, but we didn't change much setup from yesterday and it was good to have more time to learn and experience the car in the race."

At some point, the Red Bull Racing pitwall tried to use Tsunoda to block Piastri to try to give an advantage to Verstappen, but the Japanese driver could not do that.

He explained: "I tried to keep the McLaren behind for longer today but they had more grip with fresher tyres.

"The safety cars also created some interesting situations. I still have more to adapt to in the car, and my focus is now on Qualifying in Monaco and getting results in the next few races.

"And of course, a massive massive job and congrats to Max on the win and the whole Team on the result today," Tsunoda concluded.

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner summed up his team's 400th grand prix; he said: "What a win for Max in Imola! The perfect way to celebrate our 400th race and claim our fourth consecutive victory here.

"It was an impressive all round performance. Max delivered a sensational move at turn one to take the lead, followed by some strong work in the pit lane from the Team at the opportune moment to deliver a clinical victory.

"It was also a strong drive for Yuki who got into the points from the pit lane after the Team did a great job to rebuild his car overnight after Qualifying.

"A great 400th race for the Team which gives us something to build on into Monaco next week!" Horner concluded.