Damon Hill reacts to Max Verstappen winning the F1 Imola GP

Damon Hill shared his reaction after Max Verstappen won the Emilia Romagna GP on Sunday, May 18. Verstappen, one of the favorites, if not the only favorite for the race win, clinched the victory ahead of the mighty McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

The reigning champion's Red Bull RB-21 has not been a match for McLaren's MCL39 for most of the year. However, it was a different scenario at Imola as Verstappen's ride was on par with the Papayas.

The Dutchman, who missed out on the pole on Saturday, May 17, by a whisker, made amends on Lap 1 Turn 1 as he overtook Piastri right after the race start. From there on, there was no stopping the four-time world champion, who claimed his second win of the season, and four straight wins at the circuit.

Reacting to Verstappen's win, Hill, a former F1 driver and 1996 title winner, shared F1's 'winner' post on his Instagram story and wrote:

"Yes, he is (the winner). Great fight back as ever."

Here's the screenshot of Damon Hill's story on Instagram:

Credit: Damon Hill on Instagram (@96f1champ/IG)

Max Verstappen crossed the finish line with a six-second-plus gap over Norris, surprising many, given how fast the McLaren cars have been this year. Piastri, on the other hand, finished 12.9 seconds behind the Red Bull superstar.

Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon wrapped up the top five, while Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Carlos Sainz, Isack Hadjar, and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10 of the Imola GP.

Thanks to his victory, Max Verstappen trimmed his Championship gap to Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Currently, he is 22 points behind Piastri and nine points behind Norris.

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Max Verstappen makes his feelings known after winning the Emilia Romagna GP

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen shared his thoughts after claiming the Imola GP win, his second win of the season. In the post-race press conference, the Red Bull driver praised his car and hoped to show similar performances in the future.

"I do think the car felt a bit nicer, a bit more controlled to drive now also in the long run, and that helped me, I think, also then look after the tyres probably a bit more than normal. So, yeah, overall, quite surprising, but, of course, very happy with what we showed today. Just hope that we can, you know, show this kind of performance a bit more often," Verstappen said.

Oscar Piastri leads the championship with 146 points after seven races and two Sprints. His McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, follows him with 133 points. Max Verstappen has 124 points in his tally.

McLaren leads the constructors' championship with 279 points, followed by Mercedes with 147 points. Red Bull is in P3 with 131 points.