Bowed Out with a Bang
A recap of the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
If there is a racetrack synonymous with tragedy, it has to be Imola. The circuit has never quite shaken off the notoriety it gained for being the track that claimed the lives of rookie Roland Ratzenberger and one of F1’s all-time greats, Ayrton Senna, during the same race weekend in 1994.
On a more light-hearted note, Imola also found itself as the victim of a tragic geographic faux pas. Although the race has used the geographically accurate “Emilia Romagna Grand Prix” name since Imola returned to the calendar in 2020, I do sometimes wonder which geography genius approved the race being called the “San Marino Grand Prix” between 1981 and 2006, despite San Marino being 100 km away from Imola.
But perhaps I don’t need to think about that any more. In the latest tragedy to befall Imola, the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix marked potentially the last time F1 races at Imola for the foreseeable future. With the race schedule capped at 24 races and F1 looking for opportunities to expand the sport’s reach, having two Italian races every year was always going to be unsustainable. Sure, there’s always a chance Imola could take up a rotational spot on the calendar. But losing the opportunity for F1 to race around a historic track like Imola every year in favor of a track like Miami—which, let’s not forget, is literally a glorified parking lot—is tragic.
If it is indeed farewell to Imola, at least the track bowed out with a bang.
Red Bull inject pace and positivity into their season.
Max Verstappen: 1st (Qualified 2nd)
Yuki Tsunoda: 10th (Pit Lane Start)
Verstappen’s win at Imola wasn’t his first of the season. But unlike Suzuka, where he put in a qualifying lap for the ages and hung on for the win, Imola was all about Verstappen and Red Bull showing they could truly compete with McLaren.
No talk about Verstappen’s victory would be complete without mentioning his overtake on Piastri at the start. It was one born out of both necessity and circumstance: Verstappen’s poor start meant he was actually in danger of falling behind George Russell into third heading into the first corner. However, Piastri’s own poor start and decision to brake early into Turn 1 saved Verstappen, as it effectively boxed Russell in and gave Verstappen the opening to brake late and catch Piastri on the outside. Having said that, Verstappen’s best chance at wrestling away the lead depended on him capitalizing on this type of error, and he deserves all the credit for immediately going for the overtake and making it stick.
Beyond Verstappen’s overtake, Red Bull also deserve credit for finally turning their car around. The changes to the floor and cooling inlets the team unveiled across Miami and Imola definitely played a role in allowing Verstappen to push the car throughout a hot race day on Imola’s notoriously bumpy track surface and aggressive kerbs. What was also notable about the upgrades was that Verstappen’s thoughts on the car throughout the weekend were the most positive they’ve been in a long time. This shift in tone suggests better things to come the rest of the season. Rather than Verstappen simply pulling all the tricks out just to keep Red Bull in contention, we could see him be able to compete—not to mention win—more frequently against the two McLaren drivers.
Equally interesting for Red Bull will be how the new upgrades help Tsunoda, who put in a great recovery drive after a horrific crash during qualifying Saturday. Verstappen’s performance and comments at Imola suggests Red Bull’s car is in the best place its been in a long time, and the expectation moving forward will be that Tsunoda will also have better results. How much Tsunoda can close the performance gap between the two Red Bulls will determine not only Red Bull’s chances in the Constructors’ Championship this year, but Tsunoda’s own chances of securing his seat long-term.
That being said, don’t look to this weekend’s race in Monaco for signs of Red Bull’s newfound competitiveness. Monaco is an outlier in every sense, and the extremely tight and low-speed track takes away Red Bull’s advantage (high aerodynamic efficiency, which translates to higher top speed and better performance in high-speed corners). The real battle will begin the weekend after in Spain, where the new wing flexibility regulations will finally be in place.
McLaren choose harmony over victory.
Lando Norris: 2nd (Qualified 4th)
Oscar Piastri: 3rd (Qualified 1st)
McLaren’s strategy department strikes again.
The team’s surprise at Red Bull’s pace might have influenced their decision to sit back and not hand out team orders that would’ve allowed Norris to pass his teammate right after the Safety Car restart on Lap 53. But not giving their driver who was best-placed to fight Verstappen a chance at doing so was a huge mistake. Unlike Suzuka, where both McLarens and Verstappen had relatively equal tire age in the closing stages of the race, Imola saw Piastri running on tires that were 15 laps older than Norris’ (who was using a scrubbed set of 1 lap old tires) and 16 laps older than Verstappen’s at the restart. No performance gap was ever going to make up for that tire delta, and it was clear keeping Piastri ahead of Norris was only going to delay the inevitable and cost McLaren a chance at fighting Verstappen for the victory. Sure enough, by the time Norris passed Piastri at the first time time of asking on Lap 58, Verstappen had already pulled away and there weren’t enough laps left to catch him.
So why did McLaren not issue team orders? The answer is that they didn’t want to deal with the awkward situation that could’ve arisen if Norris couldn’t pass Verstappen after being let through. Given the situation both drivers were in at the restart, it’s a weak excuse. Yes, Piastri would’ve been understandably unhappy with the swap. But he had put himself in a suboptimal position to win the race from the very start: he opened the door for Verstappen to overtake at Turn 1 by being preemptively defensive for no reason. Furthermore, his attempt to catch Verstappen after being passed had not only failed, but also forced himself into taking an early pit stop on Lap 13, leaving him with no new tires to switch onto when the Safety Car was called out at the end. Given how costly a pit stop is at Imola (28 seconds!), suggesting a one-stop wasn’t possible like Piastri did early on in the race is something done only out of sheer necessity. But unlike Piastri, both Verstappen and Norris were able to keep the same medium tires running for far longer. Sure, you could argue that, unlike Piastri, Verstappen was able to wait until the Virtual Safety Car came out on Lap 29 to switch off the medium tires because he had the benefit of clean air from the very beginning. However, Norris was also able to keep the medium tires running for 28 laps, despite being stuck behind Russell in the early stages of the race. By the end of the race, Norris was simply reaping the rewards of superior tire management, and there was more than enough evidence for McLaren to justify the swap in the face of Piastri’s opposition.
Speaking of Norris, his weekend as Imola was yet another weekend where his strong race pace on Sunday was hampered by a subpar qualifying on Saturday. His performance on Saturdays is something he’ll need to fix sooner rather than later if he wants to keep himself in the championship hunt. This is especially true now that Verstappen’s win has firmly shifted the Drivers’ Championship into a three-horse race. Chaos, as Imola showed, equals opportunity. But not every race will be as chaotic as Imola, and the best shot of victory lies—as always—in starting the race at the very front.
But the main problem for Norris long-term this season might not be his qualifying, but rather his team. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown’s comments earlier this week that he would rather have McLaren lose out on the Drivers’ Championship than pick a number one driver for his team is a sign that McLaren value “harmony” over victory. Brown may have worded his comments eloquently, but his defense fails to mask the fact that, in choosing to fly in the exact opposite direction of all the evidence at Imola, McLaren accomplished neither harmony nor victory. If the team continue to be unable to make decisions when there is evidence to support them, they are leaving themselves dangerously exposed to the situation Brown claims he’d be satisfied with: Verstappen winning the Drivers’ Championship ahead of both McLarens. And something tells me neither Norris nor Piastri would be happy in that scenario.
Ferrari salvage one weekend, but the upgrades can’t come soon enough.
Lewis Hamilton: 4th (Qualified 12th)
Charles Leclerc: 6th (Qualified 11th)
Ferrari’s qualifying in Imola couldn’t have been more embarrassing. Both cars failed to make the final qualifying session, and the team found themselves out-qualified by Williams, Racing Bulls, Aston Martin, and Alpine. The car showed greater race pace on Sunday, but the reason for Ferrari’s gains lies in the fact their strategies for both drivers panned out. Hamilton’s strategy of starting on the hard tires and going long in the first stint was the correct move on paper given where he started the race. Meanwhile, Leclerc’s early pit stop on Lap 10 was objectively the wrong move, but it still worked because he was among the earliest to pit, allowing him to undercut the likes of Sainz, Russell, and both Aston Martins for track position.
Good race strategy, though, will only take Ferrari so far. The car’s qualifying struggles will continue to hinder the team, and while I don’t doubt Ferrari are looking for answers, reports about the timeline of the team’s major upgrades remain unclear. A week ago, the expected timetable was that Imola would mark the start of a series of updates that would culminate in Spain at the start of June. But news from a few days ago suggests the main upgrades have been pushed back to Austria or even Silverstone at the end of June/early July. And that’s before I remind you the news at the start of the month suggested Imola would be the turning point for their car.
Like I mentioned in my post-Miami recap, Leclerc and Hamilton deserve credit for keeping Ferrari competitive while the team figure out the car. The fact they are only 17 points behind Red Bull and 33 points behind Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship—despite only having one regular grand prix podium on the season so far—is nothing short of a minor miracle. But they’re quickly running out of time to salvage this season. The gap in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship (particularly if you compare Ferrari to McLaren) is still barely manageable at this point. But if the latest rumors are correct, waiting until Silverstone to finish unveiling all the major upgrades would mean half the season will have already passed. With Red Bull showing significant progress in Imola and Mercedes and Mclaren likely to unveil major upgrades in the coming races, I’m not sure Ferrari can afford to wait that long.
Williams deserve another round of applause.
Alex Albon: 5th (Qualified 7th)
Carlos Sainz: 8th (Qualified 6th)
It’s crazy to think that, despite Williams already performing beyond everyone’s wildest expectations this year, Imola should have actually gone even better for them. Both Sainz and Albon tied their respective seasons’ best result on Sunday, but Albon arguably could have finished even higher. He found himself chasing Leclerc down at the end of the race on tires that were 18 laps fresher, only to be pushed off-track by Leclerc when he tried to overtake at the start of Lap 60. While Ferrari correctly told Leclerc to give back the position in order to avoid a penalty, Albon’s detour into the gravel during that battle had also allowed Hamilton to get by.
Make no mistake, though: Imola was only the latest in Williams’ string of impressive race weekends in 2025. Their strong performances across qualifying and races means they’ve solidified their position in the middle of the grid. At this point last year, the team were happy to even score points. The fact they can now talk about missing out on finishing fourth in a race is a testament to just how incredible their turnaround has been.
It wasn’t a “disaster,” but Mercedes should still be concerned after Imola.
George Russell: 7th (Qualified 3rd)
Kimi Antonelli: DNF (Qualified 13th)
I mentioned in my post-Miami recap that the foundation for Mercedes’ solid start to the season lay not just in solid (if unspectacular) consistency, but also luck. It’s a weak foundation for season-long success, and Imola showed exactly what happens when both of those factors desert them.
Antonelli’s retirement was unfortunate. But that moment of bad luck can’t hide the fact that his subpar qualifying, along with Russell’s struggles on Sunday, were evidence of how much Mercedes’ results are constrained by their car’s capabilities. While you could argue Red Bull and Ferrari have both made a case for overperforming relative to their car’s potential on paper, Imola was yet another instance of Mercedes being at the mercy of their car’s limitations. Russell’s characterization of the race as “disastrous” and “the worst day we’ve had as a team in a couple of years” may be slightly dramatic—Mercedes’ 147 points so far this season dwarfs the 79 points they’d scored by the same point last year. The improvement year-on-year is proof their car is working more often than not. But championships are arguably won in moments of adversity, and Mercedes’ inability to perform when the going gets tough means it’s hard to see them as true championship contenders despite their general consistency.
At Racing Bulls, Hadjar builds his case for being the Rookie of the Year.
Isack Hadjar: 9th (Qualified 9th)
Liam Lawson: 14th (Qualified 15th)
On paper, Antonelli is the favorite for being named Rookie of the Year at the end of the season, and his results so far certainly make him deserving of that distinction. But I would make the argument that what Hadjar has accomplished so far at Racing Bulls deserves serious consideration as well. Not only has Hadjar consistently finished in and around the points—he’s only finished lower than 11th place once, not counting the race he didn’t start in Australia—he’s done so in a car that is nowhere near as competitive as Antonelli’s Mercedes. On top of that, his results have made him the de facto lead driver so far, ahead of his more experienced teammate. The topline results have and will continue to favor Antonelli due to the superior performance of the Mercedes. However, I do think context matters when determining an award like Rookie of the Year, and it would be a mistake to dismiss the context of Hadjar’s performance just because the results don’t look as remarkable.
Aston Martin show real signs of progress.
Fernando Alonso: 11th (Qualified 5th)
Lance Stroll: 15th (Qualified 8th)
It looks like Aston Martin have decided not to give up on this season after all.
A plethora of upgrades meant that both Alonso and Stroll showed impressive pace during qualifying. While that didn’t translate into points on Sunday, the noticeable improvement is a sign the team are finally moving in the right direction in 2025. While the team’s early pit stops backfired once the Virtual Safety Car was deployed on Lap 29, the pace Aston Martin showed before that moment—which saw Alonso largely keep pace with Russell’s Mercedes—was impressive. Equally as impressive was Aston Martin’s pace at the end of the race, which saw Alonso overtake a handful of cars on old medium tires to finish less than a second behind Tsunoda. Imola may not have turned out the way Aston Martin hoped, but the team genuinely have something to smile about for the first time in a while.
No, Sauber didn’t score points this race.
Nico Hülkenberg: 12th (Qualified 17th)
Gabriel Bortoleto: 18th (Qualified 14th)
But at least they’ll always have the 6 points from Australia!
Jokes aside—even though they will always have those 6 points—Sauber actually had a decent weekend by their standards. Hülkenberg ran in the points for a part of the race, and I do wonder where he would’ve finished if Sauber pitted him when the Safety Car came out instead of gambling on the one-stop strategy that resulted in him finishing the race on old medium tires.
Also, a quick reminder that Sauber aren’t an omnishambles off-track, and that genuinely still does count for something.
Haas’ weakness strikes again.
Ollie Bearman: 17th (Qualified 19th)
Esteban Ocon: DNF (Qualified 18th)
I mentioned after Miami that Haas’ results the rest of the season hinged on their ability to perform during qualifying on Saturdays. Unfortunately for the team, Imola was another weekend where the team’s Sunday was pre-determined by a poor showing on Saturday. Ocon’s engine failure was bad luck, but there’s only so much Haas can do starting from 18th and 19th on the grid.
Alpine find themselves in a tornado of fake news.
Pierre Gasly: 13th (Qualified 10th)
Franco Colapinto: 16th (Qualified 16th)
Alpine didn’t have the worst on-track performance at Imola. But I’ve saved them until the end of this recap because of the incredible off-track mess they got caught up in this past week.
FormulaFakers, a satirical news account on X, posted a joke screenshot claiming to show Jack Doohan’s father reacting dismissively to Colapinto’s qualifying crash. The tweet not only went viral but was also picked up by legitimate news outlets, which ran the story as true. The firestorm that followed saw fans (particularly supporters of Colapinto) harass Doohan and his family, prompting Alpine to release a message condemning the abuse. FormulaFakers deleted the tweet following all the controversy, but I’ve included the screenshot Jack Doohan posted on Instagram of the joke and some of subsequent clarification by FormulaFakers before the tweet was removed:
Let me get the obvious out of the way: the abuse faced by the Doohan family as a result of this situation is never okay. Personally, I think the joke itself was in slightly poor taste—a similar joke could have been made without coming at the expense of Doohan’s family. And while this is yet another example of the larger issue surrounding general media literacy and the (poor) job social media companies have done at policing abuse, I do think the media sources that reported the tweet as legitimate deserve more scrutiny than they might be getting right now for fanning the flames and leaving the scene of the crime. If The New York Times ran a story that treated an article by The Onion as fact, you would not expect or demand an apology from The Onion. Yet that’s exactly what’s happened here. Regardless of what you might think about the specific joke itself, it is absurd that FormulaFakers is bearing the brunt of responsibility here for behaving exactly like the satire it advertises itself to be.