Formula One - Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Du Du Du Du Max Verstappen!

The Flying Dutchman wins the potential last Imola Grand Prix for the foreseeable future, as McLaren struggle in a race where they were expected to cruise to victory.

QUALIFYING

As qualifying one got underway Alex Albon leapt to the top of the timesheet, setting a 1:16.164. However it wouldn’t be long before the session came to a halt for the first time as Yuki Tsunoda hit the wall in turn six, suffering a large roll-over crash. Thankfully, Tsunoda walked away from the incident without injury and qualifying resumed just a few minutes later. As qualifying resumed the top spot on the leaderboard was highly contested with Sainz, Gasly, Alonso and Verstappen all finding their way to the top of the leaderboard before Colapinto crashed in the final seconds, causing a second red flag, and the end of the Q1 session. 

Out in Q1: Lawson, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Bearman, Tsunoda

Photo: Bryn Lennon

Qualifying two got under way and it was immediately Max Verstappen who went to the top of the timing tables, followed initially by Charles Leclerc and then George Russell before all three were overtaken by the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. With just five seconds remaining, Carlos Sainz once again found his way to the top of the table.

Out in Q2: Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Colapinto

In qualifying three everything went the way of the papaya McLarens, with Norris and Piastri setting the fastest times in the initial runs before Verstappen momentarily took over. However, with just fifteen seconds remaining in the session Piastri found his way back to the front and held on ahead of Verstappen and Russell to claim pole position for the Imola Grand Prix.

Top 10: Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, Norris, Alonso, Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Hadjar, Gasly

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

RACE

Before the race began, Yuki Tsunoda was confirmed to start from the pitlane with his Red Bull RB20 requiring an almost complete rebuild overnight. As the green flag flew, Max Verstappen suffered from a poor initial getaway before making a sensational late-braking manoeuvre around the outside of pole sitter Oscar Piastri to make his way to the lead coming out of the Tamburello chicane. On the second row of the grid Lando Norris lost out to the fast-starting George Russell, and by the end of the first lap Esteban Ocon had to come into the pitlane with a possible issue, a change of tires was sufficient for the Haas team and Ocon was back on track shortly after.

On lap eleven Lando Norris finally overtook George Russell to take back his third place, although this overtake left him seven seconds adrift from his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri who, at the time, was running second on track. Just a lap later Russell and Sainz both came into the pitlane for their first stops, this early stop on lap twelve sent a signal that a two-stop strategy would be the most common. However, Charles Leclerc managed to undercut both of the Mercedes powered cars and after these initial pit stops he was the leader on the two-stop strategy and ahead of the car that had been running in fourth before any pit stops were made.

Photo: Lars Baron

Just two laps later Oscar Piastri responded to the attempted undercut by both Russell and Leclerc by coming into the pitlane, unfortunately it was a slow stop for the leading McLaren who spent 3.6 seconds stationary compared to the normal 2.2-2.4, which dropped him behind Yuki Tsunoda, who he wouldn’t be able to get past and back into the top ten until lap nineteen. By lap twenty-seven Piastri was up to sixth on track and proving that the two stop strategy could work. Two laps later his McLaren teammate Lando Norris came into the pitlane for his first and possibly only stop of the race, but as he exited the pitlane, Ocon came to a grinding halt on the exit of Tosa and a Virtual Safety Car was deployed, which allowed Piastri to make another, and hopefully his final pitstop, but it was again slower than anticipated. 

On lap thirty-two the VSC was lifted and almost immediately Russell was back up to eleventh, just a lap later Hamilton overtook his Mercedes replacement Antonelli for sixth and then on lap thirty-six Russell made another position to get back into the points.

Photo: Lars Baron

On lap forty-six Antonelli’s Mercedes power unit conked out coming towards Tosa and he was forced to pull to a stop on the exit of the hairpin and caused a full safety car to be called. Norris immediately pitted but it was a slow stop yet again from the McLaren crew although thankfully it did not cost them any positions this time around. Six laps later the Safety Car finally came back into the pitlane and racing resumed, the field stayed mostly stable until lap fifty-nine when Norris finally found his way ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri in turn one. A lap later Alex Albon attempted a similar overtake on Charles Leclerc but was forced off track and ended up losing a position to Lewis Hamilton. Leclerc avoided a penalty for the incident, somewhat controversially, because he gave the position to Albon after he allowed teammate Hamilton past as well.

Photo: Zak Mauger

When the checkered flag flew it was Max Verstappen who came home in first position, apart from turn one it had been a quietly successful race for the reigning champion, Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Albon, Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Hadjar and Tsunoda made up the rest of the top ten.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MONACO COAST

Formula One heads to the Principality of Monaco for a staple round of the season, where  Ferrari are expected to be strong with a shorter wheelbase than many of the other front-running teams. However, a mandated two-stop strategy, enforced by the FIA, may favour teams who are quick at the start of their stints, but slightly worse on longer tyre wear.

Oscar Piastri continues to lead the drivers’ championship with 146 points, now only thirteen points ahead of Lando Norris. Max Verstappen’s victory sees him close the gap to Norris to just nine points. McLaren have once again increased their advantage to Mercedes, with a gap of 132 points, while Red Bull Racing drift just sixteen points behind Mercedes, with Ferrari in fourth after scoring decent points at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.