TRAFFIC BLIGHT

'World of pain' as Piastri is put in jam by McLaren

- DANIEL MOXON

MCLAREN put Oscar Piastri into a “world of pain” as the championship leader lost ground to both his main title rivals at Imola.

That was the view of Christian Horner after watching his star driver Max Verstappen take his second win of the year.

The Dutchman produced a stellar overtake on Piastri (right) at the start and had the pace to pull away from the McLarens as Red Bull's upgrades worked wonders.

And the Aussie was hampered by a two-stop strategy which saw him struggle in traffic while Verstappen had the freedom of the Italian countryside.

"They obviously pulled the trigger on the two-stop but... because of the length of the pit lane here being 27 seconds, it put him into a world of pain, traffic-wise," said Horner.