Max Verstappen expertly won an interesting and absorbing Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday. Having started second, Verstappen performed arguably one of his best overtakes of his career, masterfully out-braking Oscar Piastri around the outside into the Tamburello chicane, holding it together with the Australian giving him space to take the lead into the first corner.
From there, Verstappen really had control of the race, which was helped by McLaren’s interesting strategic decisions. The race had the full safety car contingent, virtual and full safety car, which helped Verstappen in the first instance to extend his lead after Oscar Piastri took an early stop which did not work out for him. The full safety car bunched the field back up on lap 46 but still no one could get close to Verstappen as he drove away by six seconds. Behind him, both McLarens were two-three, Lando Norris ahead of Oscar Piastri, which is becoming routine for the McLaren team now. Following that came a fantastic battle between the two Ferraris and Alex Albon towards the end. Lewis Hamilton took fourth, Alex Albon fifth for the second fifth in a row, really cementing his place as best of the rest in the driver’s championship, followed by Leclerc who was caught by the two behind him after staying on old hard tyres with the second safety car.
George Russell took 7th on a quiet day for the Briton, in front of Sainz, Hadjar and Tsunoda who came from a pit lane start to take the last point.
Overall this was quite an exciting edition of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix by recent standards with the split strategy providing lots of opportunities for overtakes but Verstappen really was the class of the field.
Right, on to the ratings!
Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen pulled off a fantastic overtake over Oscar Piastri into turn one and never really looked back. He pulled out a two-second lead before Piastri pitted early for the undercut, but Red Bull held on getting through the graining and Verstappen increased his lead. From there, it was all looking very easy, very rarely seeing the Red Bull driver. The late safety car brought the field back to him but didn’t bother him in the end. He just keeps reminding us why he’s a four-time world champion and in the echelon of one of the best drivers of all time. These types of performances feel routine for him and look routine, but I imagine they’re very much not.
Rating: 8.9
Lando Norris
Lando continues to be hampered by his Saturday performances, qualifying fourth in this Grand Prix and getting stuck behind George Russell in the first twelve laps. By the time he got past, he was seven seconds behind the front two and really that’s quite a big gap in this title fight. He was unlucky with the virtual safety car, pitting thirty seconds before it came out, and then got stuck behind his teammate after the second safety car. Once he was past him, he was six seconds back from Verstappen, which was too far.
Rating: 8.1
Oscar Piastri
Oscar will be kicking himself for breaking a bit too early in the first corner. From there, the team didn’t help him, pitting Piastri early for the undercut, but he got stuck behind traffic and wasn’t able to eat into Verstappen’s lead. If anything, he lost time post pit stop. He was running in a distant third once the virtual safety car and all had rolled out. McLaren decided to keep him out during the second safety car and wasn’t really able to challenge Verstappen on much older tires after the restart. Not a great Sunday for Piastri. It could have been very different if he’d kept the lead into turn one, but unfortunately, he didn’t.
Rating: 7.9
Lewis Hamilton
A much better Sunday after a disappointing Q2 exit on Saturday. Hamilton was much more at ease with the car at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Having been stuck behind Kimi Antonelli for much of the first half of the race, but once able to get past he made good progress. He put mediums on at the second safety car and was able to make up places over his teammate and Alex Albon to claim fourth. Generally, a much better race for Hamilton. He said after the race, it was the most comfortable he’d been, and he looked quick with some decisive overtakes.
Rating: 8.1
Alex Albon
Another fantastic weekend for Alex Albon and the Williams team. This is the second time in a row Alex has finished fifth and the third time all season. He was also a beneficiary of going long in the first stint. Albon took advantage of the virtual safety to pit, jumped Piastri and was running as high as third for much of the race. Piastri would then overtake him in between the two safety car periods. Albon pitted again at the second safety car and wasn’t quite able to hold on to fourth. So another fifth place for Alex Albon and a fantastic performance. Williams is really looking a very solid car.
Rating: 8.5
Charles Leclerc
A frustrating afternoon for Charles who thought he could probably get more out of the race after qualifying eleventh on Saturday. Made a good start, made a couple of places up, and was running nicely on the mediums in the first stint and triggered the first set of pit stops pitting on lap 11. Initially, this looked like a great decision as he undercut Russell and Piastri to take a net third on the road. But the safety car timings really screwed him with those around him taking a cheap stop. At the safety car, he decided to stay out as he had no fresh tyres available. This gave him track position, but left him vulnerable to Albon and Hamilton behind when he was eventually overtaken by both. So he finished sixth but a promising race for the Ferrari team overall, if not a bit frustrating for Charles.
Rating: 8.1
George Russell
A tricky weekend for Russell and the Mercedes team. Even though he started third on the grid after a great qualifying performance, the pace in the car really wasn’t there on Sunday. He suffered from high degradation in the first stint after being pushed hard by Lando Norris. He pitted early on lap 12, triggering the other two stoppers and was a victim of the safety cars. With the hot conditions causing Mercedes problems, we are going to see more of this.
Rating: 7.6
Carlos Sainz
Again, another solid weekend from Carlos. Argued that he was screwed by his team’s strategy putting on to the two stop when clearly the one stop was the right way to go on Sunday and was further exasperated by the virtual safety car coming out at the right time for the one stoppers. Another point scoring position could arguably have been sixth or seventh on another day.
Rating: 7.8
Isack Hadjar
Another point scoring position for the ever impressive rookie. Started eleventh, was running as high as fourth with Alex Albon during the early stages of the race, but wasn’t able to hang on to that position as the safety car and virtual safety car were not very well timed for him. He lost positions to Sainz and Russell during the safety car period and wasn’t able to make those positions back. More points for the young Frenchman.
Rating: 7.8
Yuki Tsunoda
A great recovery drive from Yuki from the pit lane after a humongous crash on Saturday, where he flipped his Aston Martin and was lucky to climb out of that uninjured. Went long in the first stint, made use of the virtual safety car and safety car to find his way back into the points at the flag.
Rating: 7.7
Fernando Alonso
Fernando was unlucky again, still not having scored a point in 2025. The Aston Martin looked much better after upgrades, and Alonso qualified fifth. However, an early pit stop and poorly timed safety cars left him unable to full recover, finishing eleventh.
Rating: 7.8
Nico Hulkenberg
Nico Hulkenberg had a great performance, running in the low teens for most of the race. He took advantage of the safety car periods and was running in tenth at the restart but couldn’t hold on, finishing twelfth.
Rating: 7.7
Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly had a tough race, pitting very early and dropping back after battling with Charles Leclerc. He was running in the mid-teens for most of the race, finishing thirteenth.
Rating: 7.6
Liam Lawson
Liam Lawson had a quiet race, qualifying fourteenth and finishing fourteenth. He was thoroughly outperformed by his younger and more inexperienced teammate.
Rating: 7.1
Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll had an unfortunate race after qualifying in the top ten. He was caught out by the safety cars and finished fifteenth.
Rating: 6.5
Franco Colapinto
Franco Colapinto had a tricky weekend on his second debut, crashing in qualifying and finishing sixteenth. He was tentative at the start and never really recovered.
Rating: 6.1
Ollie Bearman
Ollie Bearman had a quiet race, running towards the back for most of it and finishing seventeenth. He was unlucky in qualifying with his fastest time in Q1 being chalked off due to the red flag coming out just before he finished his lap.
Rating: 5.8
Gabriel Bortoleto
Bortoleto finished last on the road, outperformed by his teammate, Nico Hulkenberg. He had a few good battles towards the back, but couldn’t move forward.
Rating: 5.5
Kimi Antonelli
Kimi Antonelli had a scrappy weekend, retiring on lap 46 while running around fifth to eighth. He had some good battles but ended his race prematurely.
Rating: 7.2
Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon retired on lap 28 with an engine failure, impacting the race more than his driving did.
Rating: 5.5
In what could be the last time Formula One arrives in Imola for a while, this iconic circuit produced a decent race with plenty of action into Turn 1. Verstappen takes the honours of four consecutive wins at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, tying off its inclusion in the calendar for now. Next, the second leg of the triple header takes us to Monaco, where a mandated two-stop race could see some crazy strategies. Verstappen leaves Italy very much in the title fight, putting down a marker to McLaren that he isn’t going anywhere.
The Perfect Formula 