Hakkinen calls Verstappen win 'vital' for defending his world title

Max Verstappen, along with Red Bull Racing, impressively put the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix to bed. Not only that, but Sergio Perez made it a perfect 1-2. Mika Hakkinen explains why the victory was "vital" for Verstappen and his team.

Everyone probably agrees that the victory was an important one for Red Bull, especially after the difficult start to the season. "This was a really important win for Max. The two non-finishes in Bahrain and Australia really hurt the start of his season, so the win on Sunday was vital," he explains in his column for Unibet.

He stressed that Red Bull needed to show that it had both speed and reliability in order to compete with Ferrari, and in Imola it did. From the sprint race on Saturday, Verstappen was in control of the weekend. "That’s the kind of weekend he needs if he is to defend his World Championship title," Hakkinen continued.

That Sergio Perez additionally finished second Hakkinen calls "a perfect result for the team. He thinks Charles Leclerc could have made things difficult for the Mexican if he hadn't shot himself in the foot at the Varianta Alta chicane.

The two-time world champion calls Leclerc's mistake understandable, but also points out that it shows that one cannot win every race. "Sometimes settling for second or third place is the right strategy," concludes Hakkinen.