Max Verstappen's world championship defence is alive again, driving his Red Bull to a dominant win in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Dutchman led from start to finish to take the victory ahead of teammate Sergio Perez in second and McLaren's Lando Norris in third.

Ferrari had a shocking day around the famous Italian track, with championship leader Charles Leclerc finishing sixth after a late accident.

In front of a partisan Ferrari crowd at Imola, it was Red Bull that dominated, taking their first one-two finish since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix. 

Verstappen's win never seemed in doubt, despite the race starting on a wet track and rain threatening throughout the 63-lap race.

The victory capped off a perfect weekend for the Red Bull driver, who also qualified on pole, won the sprint race and secured an extra point for the fastest lap.

"It's always tough to achieve something like that," Verstappen said.

"You never know with the weather how competitive you are going to be.

"As a team, we did everything well and I think this one-two is very deserved."

Verstappen has now climbed to second in the drivers' standings, cutting his margin with frontrunner Leclerc to 27 points.

Leclerc had a poor start from second place and was demoted to fourth on the opening lap, when a safety car came out after a crash between his teammate Carlos Sainz and Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

Sainz retired from the race while Leclerc was able to pass Norris into third on lap eight. 

Leclerc was in a battle with Sergio Perez for second place throughout the race. 

Ferrari's championship leader never let the Mexican out of his sight, but also did not have the pace to overtake.

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With both drivers on fresh, soft tyres, Leclerc pushed in the closing laps to try to take second place. 

However, his charge ended on lap 54 when he mounted the chicane and slid off the track. 

Leclerc pitted to repair his front wing and tumbled down the order. 

He was able to make a few late overtakes to finish sixth. 

"It is a big shame," he told the UK's Sky Sports F1.

First lap crash ruins Ricciardo's race

McLaren's Ricciardo could not recover from a lap-one collision with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, and finished 18th.

Ricciardo got a great start and was side-by-side with Sainz heading into the first braking zone.

The Australian's car slid sideways into Sainz after he put his wheels on the wet kerb.

Sainz was stranded in the gravel trap, bringing out a safety car and ending his race, seeing him retire for the second-consecutive grand prix.

Ricciardo was the first driver to take the gamble and go onto dry tyres at the end of lap 16.

The McLaren began to light up the timing screens, which led to the frantic rush of drivers filing into the pits.

Ricciardo was able to climb from 18th to 15th, giving him a chance to fight for a top-10 finish.

However, with the DRS not enabled, overtaking was very difficult, with Ricciardo sitting at the end of a train of cars.

McLaren brought Ricciardo in again at the end of lap 30 to apply new, hard tyres, in an effort to give him clean air and a different strategy.

But there was no reward for Ricciardo as he languished at the back of the field while his teammate, Norris, took third place.

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Nightmare continues for Lewis Hamilton, finishing 14th

The woes for the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton continued at Imola, with the Mercedes star failing to score points. 

Hamilton started and finished 14th in a frustrating afternoon, at one point being overlapped by rival Max Verstappen. 

The Briton spent lap after lap trying in vain to pass the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly but, ultimately, had to settle for 14th.

At the end of the race, the despair could be felt as team boss Toto Wolff apologised to his star driver over the radio. 

"Sorry for what you have needed to drive today," Wolff said. 

"I know this is un-driveable and not what we deserve.  

"We will come out of this."

It is a major let-down for the team that has won the last eight constructors' championships. 

The season's next F1 grand prix is to be held in Miami, Florida, for the first time, on May 8.