EMILIA-ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX 2025
Never count the Dutchman out of it!
Max Verstappen won the Emilia- Romagna grand prix in utter finesse and style dominating from turn one to the end of the race. Even though it was the McLaren boy Oscar Piastri who had pole position, Max Verstappen swooped around the outside of him into the lead of the race in turn 1 and after that he was never to be seen, continuing to march on his way to victory.
The McLaren boys were unlucky also as the VSC and the actual safety car both went against them, giving Max a even larger advantage. In the closing stages of the race Oscar was P2 behind Max and Lando was P3 behind Oscar, but the situation was such that Lando was on fresh tires and Oscar on 20 lap old ones, yet Lando was not let by. In the end, Max got an easy win but the fans got to see a spectacular battle between the papaya boys in which no doubt Lando came out on top with the given tyre advantage. Overall, good result for McLaren if it is looked from an outside view but honestly McLaren would not be happy at all with the lost win which they could have easily got.
Overall, the Red Bull was in no way inferior to the McLaren in terms of out right pace as was the case in Miami. They have some how turned round the car and found pace in the package they have got which ensued Max to win quite comfortably unlike the previous few races. Furthermore, Yuki Tsunoda made it into the points from the pitlane, where he started due to his horrendous crash in qualifying. There is no doubt that the safety car played to his strength but even so he had actual good pace throughout the race which was mostly due to his extended experience on this Imola race track.
FERRARI pulled out a unforeseen result. The Ferrari duo went from P11 and P12 to P4 and P6. After a horrible qualifying for both the Ferrari drivers, getting knocked out in Q2. No doubt both got a little help from the safety cars like others, but that is not the reason for their performance. During the later stages of the race, their car came alive and suddenly transformed from a midfield to a front runner car. They all of a sudden were pulling off overtakes left, right, center and pulling out overtakes like prime Senna. Hamilton, out of nowhere went ahead of everyone and even overtook his teammate who had a better start and started ahead of him. After the braking issues of the previous days no expected either car to be high up in the points. In the end Hamilton finished P4, only 1.4 seconds behind the McLaren of Oscar Piastri who he was gaining on like a raging bull lap after lap, but in the end just did not have enough laps. Leclerc like Hamilton found pace out of nowhere and had some brilliant battles like the one with Alex Albon to whom he had to concede the place in the end. Overall, a good weekend for Ferrari to see the brilliant race pace they have. But still they will not be overjoyed as the Tifosi and they themselves expect to fight at the front and win races at home and their qualifying pace just does not seem to do justice to the race pace at all.
On the other hand, the Mercedes team just did not have the brilliant race weekends like they have been having. In the start even though George Russell qualified P3 he lost a lot of tire life fighting the faster McLaren of Lando Norris who was on the charge. This led to him pitting early and after that it was all downhill from there. His tire degredation was too high till the end and after the safety car he just could not defend the faster Ferrari of Lewis on fresher tires and had to settle for a mere P7, his first race finish outside the top 5 this season. On the other side of the garage, Kimi Antonelli, the Italian boy from Bologna racing in front of his home fans just did not have luck by his side. He qualified P13 behind the two Ferrari's and in the race he just could not overtake partake a few cars until he had a throttle issue and had to retire in his first ever home grand prix in F1, a sad weekend for him and overall for the team as a whole who were on a run of form until now.
What has happened to Williams! Williams look to have had the biggest turn around in the past few years after McLaren. They just seem to be scoring points race in and race out and they have already hauled 51 points which is just 2 less than the combined total they have had the last 3 years. Out of these, 40 points have been scored by Alex alone which shows the dominant performance he has been having, being way above the midfield rivals that Williams have. This weekend to like last weekend they were in a battle with Ferrari and Alex managed to finish ahead of one of the Ferrari's in P5 but still behind Lewis. On the other hand, Carlos also scored a good amount of points for the team finishing in P8. Williams this year genuinely seem to be there or there about the pace of a Ferrari and a Mercedes. What a turnaround honestly and an even more brilliant driver pairing to complement it!
Isack Hadjar is just on another level currently and this race weekend again managed to finish in the points ahead of the second Red Bull car which makes a statement here about him and his performances. He has just been blistering fast and has been constantly getting points no matter the circumstances and is the only point scorer in the team for the last few races. On the other hand, Liam just did not have the pace and finished P14. Honestly, not the season he expected to have this year but there is still a long for way for this season to go.
Aston Martin were blistering fast in qualifying getting both cars into Q3 and qualifying P5 and P8. Similarly in the race, they were equally slow, falling back throughout the pack due to pace and strategy and ended out of the points in the end, even with Alonso who barely missed on the points in P11. Miserable to say the least as this was their opportunity to shine and they could not make the most or anything out of this opportunity.
Sauber had the pace this weekend but just not enough and luck was not by their side. Nico showed some serious racing skills and maneuvers but in the end finished P12 just a couple seconds outside the points. Alpine also could not score any points due to Franco's crash in qualifying putting him on the back end of the grid and Pierre's trip in the gravel at the start of the race due to his battle with Charles which made him trundle down the pack and after that he could never recover. Also, Haas unlike other weekends just were a bit more on the backfoot and did not have the pace of their competition. Esteban Ocon had to retire in the race and Oliver Bearman just could not score points as Imola is difficult to overtake on and well he could not qualify higher due to his controversial qualifying lap in Q1 which saw him out due to the red flag.
Overall, if this is the last race in Imola for somewhile as the chatter is going around, it was surely a perfect send off. The race was just perfect with varying tire strategies due to the new C6 compound and going one step softer on the tire range. Also, the racing was just brilliant with overtakes like no other. They were risky, calculated and just perfect textbook passes which filled everyone who saw them with awe and surprise. It was just sublime to say the least!
Next week we head on to the crown jewel of F1, we head to the principality of Monaco. A one of a kind track which is hated by some and loved by others but agreed by all to be the most challenging of them all. With tight narrow roads and barriers to catch the drivers out at every corner, they can't rest or blink for more than few milliseconds because if they lose focus they will be in the wall as many have experienced in the past. Some regard winning in Monaco as the most challenging and the best victory of the season.
Next week everyone will be waiting to see can an outlier win on the narrow, twisty streets of Monaco or will McLaren or Max Verstappen or the homeboy, Charles Leclerc like last year take victory like they have done in the past. In Monaco, its anyone's race to win due to it not being a power dependent circuit. Only time will tell which driver out of the 20 will come out victorious and claim the top step on the podium in Monaco!!!
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