18/05/2025
NEWS STORY
Today's race - probably the last at this iconic track, unless, God (and the WEF, Bill Gates, Blackrock etc.) willing, there is another pandemic - can go one of several ways.
It could be decided at the first corner, or certainly on the opening lap, and then become one long DRS train, or it could be a genuine thriller.
The Weather Gods are not going to be playing a part, which leaves it down to tyres, pit stop strategy and good old grit and determination.
We know from experience that neither Oscar nor Max is prepared to give an inch, so the opening lap will be vital, however with the likes of Russell, Norris, Alonso Sainz, Albon and Hadjar in close proximity there should be added drama from the outset.
Then we have the frustrated Ferraris, not to mention an equally fired-up Antonelli.
A one-stop is the most viable choice, in part because there is only one DRS zone and also because this is the longest pit lane of the season in terms of time lost during a pit stop.
The combination of medium and hard, with a stop between laps 17 and 23, is the most likely. However, as an alternative, some drivers might prefer to go for a longer first stint, starting on the hard, in the hope of an eventual Safety Car, in which case the switch to medium would be between laps 37 and 43.
A two-stop strategy is not out of the question in terms of total race time, but the factors just mentioned mean it is at a disadvantage. For anyone attempting this, the best combinations would be medium-hard-hard."
Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, Hamilton, Verstappen and Antonelli all have one set of fresh mediums available, while, of those mentioned, Norris has one set of fresh hards while the rest have two.
As for the soft - the infamous C6s - we are not going to see them again today, indeed the drivers would be happy never to see them again such were the issues they had with them yesterday.
Despite the drama of Q2 and Q3, Aston Martin insists that its qualifying positions are not purely down to tyre choice but also the raft of upgrades brought here. Hopefully, Alonso and Stroll can use their positions, and the limitations of the Imola track, to convert their grid spots into a decent points haul.
The Spaniard is always 'up for it', consequently it has been disappointing to see his frustration this season. Yesterday proved he still has fire in his belly, and given the equipment can still do the business.
The Williams pair have looked strong all weekend, and it is good to see Sainz finding his feet, and while the Grove outfit should be in for some decent points there is still a long, long way to go before we can start thinking podiums.
Having looked so strong on Friday, Gasly fell away somewhat yesterday, but he should give a good account of himself today, though Hadjar and Stroll will be keen to thwart him.
The drama of the front rows aside, the real drama this afternoon should come from behind what with the Ferraris, Hamilton, Colapinto and Tsunoda.
Having harangued Jack Doohan since before the season even began, Colapinto's 'fans' have now turned their attention elsewhere, giving poor old Tsunoda grief after the Red Bull driver gesticulated after being impeded by the Alpine.
The Argentine has spoken out at the abuse levelled at Tsunoda - much of it racist - but sadly that appears to be the sort of demographic the sport is attracting these days.
Despite his excellent debut last year Colapinto was subsequently involved in far too many crashes - costing Williams a small fortune - however this appears to have been overlooked amidst the anticipation of taking Doohan's seat.
Yesterday he picked up where he left off, consequently the doubts over his potential remain.
Already condemned to the back of the grid, a complete new engine change means that poor old Yuki will start from the pitlane. Colap;into drops one place after he entered the fast lane in the pit lane before the re-start time was confirmed.
Talking of qualifying, Haas is still arguing over the fact that Bearman's final Q1 lap was disallowed, though it is unlikely that the stewards will change their mind, and even if they do, what can be done about it?
With only one stop looking likely, not to mention the sole DRS zone and the fact that overtaking is nigh impossible, other than tyre choice it is the pit stop strategy that could be a decider today, so it is going to be fascinating to watch for the undercuts and overcuts.
In the minutes before the pitlane opens, there is drama in the Williams garage where a leak has been detected on Albon's car. It's unclear what sort of leak it is so the car is being stripped down.
The pitlane opens and Verstappen is first out, followed by Hulkenberg, Hadjar, Sainz and Lawson.
Air temperature is 24 degrees C, while the track temperature is 46 degrees. It is bright and sunny. That said, Race Control says there is a 20% chance of rain.
While Albon's car is sorted and the Thai driver takes his place on the grid, there is activity at the rear of Russell's Mercedes.
All are starting on mediums bar Hamilton, Antonelli, Hulkenberg, Bearman and Tsunoda. Fresh rubber for all bar Russell, Alonso and Stroll.
They head off on the formation lap, all getting away cleanly.
The grid forms.
They're away! Piastri gets away well, as does Russell right behind, but Verstappen is slow off the line and as they take the kink that is Turn 1 the Red Bull and Mercedes are side-by-side.
However, heading into Tamburello Verstappen starts to brake early and having left Russell for dead clearly catches Piastri on the hop and is through to take the lead. A brilliant move by the world champion.
"Piastri, what is he doing," asks a frustrated Russell who is boxed in behind the McLaren as Verstappen forges ahead.
At the end of Lap 1, it's: Verstappen, Piastri, Russell, Norris, Alonso, Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Gasly and Leclerc. Hamilton is down to thirteenth and Antonelli up to twelfth. Ocon pits for hard tyres.
Hamilton and Antonelli are side-by-side as they battle for 12th, while Gasly goes off and into the gravel at Turn 10 as he battles Leclerc. The Frenchman drops to 14th.
After 3 laps Verstappen is 1.4s clear of Piastri as Leclerc closes on Stroll.
As Russell remains 2.4s down on Piastri a DRS train consisting of nine cars forms behind the Mercedes.
Sainz is harrying countryman Alonso as Hamilton is all over Antonelli further back.
At the start of Lap 9, Norris tries a Verstappen on Russell, but is unable to pull it off.
"I'm not sure how I'm going to make it to the target lap, pushing like this," admits Russell.
In his determination to pass the Mercedes, Norris has two wheels on the grass. "He just drove on the grass," says a surprised Russell.
As the pair continue to battle, Alonso and Sainz close in.
Finally, following a little mistake by Russell, Norris passes the Mercedes as they head into Variante Villeneuve.
Russell and Sainz both pit at the end of Lap 11, rejoining in 15th (Russell) and 16th. A two-stopper? Leclerc also pits, rejoining in 15th.
"Plan A is very ambitious at the moment," says Piastri.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Imola here.
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Alonso and Bortoleto pit at the end of Lap 12, as Leclerc posts a new fastest lap (20.505).
The undercut has seen Leclerc pass Russell and Alonso.
Replay shows flames from the front-left wheel on Alonso's car as he headed down the pitlane following his stop.
Piastri pits at the end of Lap 13. An issue with the front-right sees the Australian rejoin in 12th, 4.9s ahead of Leclerc.
Stroll pits at the end of Lap 14, as Hamilton is up to 6th. It's a slow stop for Stroll who rejoins in 17th.
After 15 laps, it's: Verstappen, Norris, Albon, Hadjar, Antonelli, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Colapinto and Bearman, though all have yet to stop.
The leading car yet to stop is Tsunoda, who is 0.599s ahead of Piastri. The Japanese driver is told to do his best to hold him up.
He tried, but to no avail, Piastri is through and seeks to make up the 32s gap to Verstappen.
Having made short work of Bearman Piastri sets off after Colapinto.
Out front, Verstappen leads Norris by 9.6s.
As Piastri passes Colapinto, Tsunoda is battling a charging Leclerc.
"The key for us is clean air and going long," Norris is told.
"Albon 21.8, 21.8," Sainz is told as Leclerc passes Tsunoda for 11th.
"There is no gap right now," Hamilton is told, "we are not ruling out Plan C." "Understood," he replies.
Despite earlier fears the medium appears to be coming back.
"It's like the rear track-rod or something is broken, the rears are moving," complains Russell.
Colapinto pits at the end of Lap 22 and rejoins in 20tgh, as Piastri passes Hulkenberg for seventh.
As Hamilton continues to harry Antonelli, Piastri closes on the pair.
On Lap 26, Piastri passes Hamilton in Tamburello, the Briton offering no resistance.
The Australian subsequently repeats the move on Antonelli, as he sets off after Hadjar, who can do Verstappen some good if he can hold off the McLaren.
Piastri passes the RB to claim fourth, leaving him 32s down on Verstappen.
Norris pits at the end of Lap 28, rejoining in seventh ahead of Leclerc.
The VSC is deployed as Ocon has stopped on track.
Verstappen pits as do Albon, Hadjar, Antonelli, Hamilton and a whole load of others.
"Unbelievable, unbelievable," complains Leclerc at the turn of events. While a one-stopped played to his advantage, this has wrecked his race.
As the dust settles, Verstappen leads Norris, Albon, Piastri, Hadjar, Antonelli, Hamilton, Alonso, Stroll and Leclerc. Russell is down to twelfth.
The VSC is withdrawn and as Leclerc tries to catch Stroll napping, Verstappen leads Norris by 19.9s.
Replay shows a possible unsafe release for Antonelli.
Norris post a new fastest lap (19.816), as Piastri hunts down Albon.
Unseen, Leclerc has passes both Aston Martins, while Sainz has passed Tsunoda for 13th.
Hamilton finally passes Antonelli in Tamburello to claim 6th, as the stewards have noted Tsunoda for causing a potential collision with Sainz.
Russell passes Stroll and immediately closes on the other Aston Martin as Hamilton posts a new fastest lap (19.473).
The crowd roars as Hamilton sweeps by Hadjar to claim fifth, the VSC having played out perfectly for the seven-time world champion.
Now 18.7s ahead of Norris, Verstappen is leaving the opposition for dead.
In fifth, Hamilton is the leading driver on the faster medium tyres.
"I had to use a lot of tyres to get through those two," says Hamilton when told he is up to P5.
Meanwhile, teammate Leclerc passes Antonelli for 7th.
Hulkenberg passes Alonso for tenth as Tsunoda passes the other Aston Martin for 13th.
Leclerc passes Hadjar to claim 6th, leaving him 2s down on his teammate. However, this raises the question of whether on hards, while his teammate is on mediums, will team orders come into play again?
Sainz passes Hulkenberg for tenth as Tsunoda passes Alonso for 12th.
"I'm the unluckiest ******* driver in the world," sighs Alonso. "It's going to be torture," he adds, knowing that he is destined to slip further down the order.
"Swap the positions," Colapinto is told. He duly obliges, allowing Gasly through to take 15th.
"I've got an issue," says Antonelli as he pulls to the side of the track on Lap 46.
The Safety Car is deployed.
Verstappen pits, taking full advantage of the freebie, as Norris follows suit.
"We need to stay out, we don't have a tyre to last until the end," Leclerc is told.
Hamilton and Hadjar pit as Norris rejoins behind his McLaren teammate. Hamilton rejoins in 7th, as Alonso and Stroll pit, along with Colapinto and Bortoleto.
Next time around Albon pits, the Thai driver rejoining in fifth.
As Piastri closes to within 1.8s of Verstappen - on 18 lap old rubber - they are taking their time in removing Piastri's car.
With Norris on fresher rubber, McLaren is going to have to make a tough decision over the course of the remaining laps.
Behind the Safety Car it's: Verstappen, Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, Albon, Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Hadjar and Hulkenberg.
"I see tyres are pretty dead," says Norris. "I'm not asking to be let by, I'm just saying."
"These tyres are going to be incredibly difficult to restart," warns Leclerc.
With 11 laps remaining, Bearman is told he can un-lap himself, which should take another lap or so.
Piastri's tyres are 21 laps old, Leclerc and Russell's 22 laps.
The Safety Car is withdrawn at the end of Lap 53.
Verstappen lets loose, and as Piastri follows Leclerc tries to make a move on Norris. Having failed, the Ferrari driver comes under attack from Albon.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Imola here.
A new fastest lap from Verstappen (18.611) as Norris and Albon are noted for a Safety6 Car infringement.
Tsunoda passes Hulkenberg for tenth.
Another fastest lap (18.214) sees Verstappen extend his lead to 2.5s.
Hamilton is hard on the heels of his former Mercedes teammate, as Hadjar harries Sainz for eighth.
Hamilton passes Russell for sixth, as Norris is all over Piastri.
Into Tamburello on Lap 58 and its heart in the mouth staff as Norris passes Piastri to claim second. Faultless driving from both as Verstappen is already 5.4s ahead.
Albon is all over Leclerc but the Monegasque slams the door.
Another fastest lap from the race leader (17.988).
Hamilton closes on the Leclerc/Albon battle.
Albon makes a move in Tamburello but runs wide and through the gravel, not only losing out to the first Ferrari but Hamilton also.
"That wasn't fair," says the Williams driver.
On fresher rubber, Hamilton seeps by his Ferrari teammate to claim fourth. Third-placed Piastri is 2.7s up the road.
The previous incident has been noted as Albon closes on Leclerc again.
Albon passes Leclerc but since that incident is being investigated was he told to yield. He clearly isn't happy... but then again, is he ever?
Verstappen takes the flag, ahead of Norris, Piastri, Hamilton, Albon, Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Hadjar and Tsunoda.
Alonso is eleventh, ahead of Hulkenberg, Gasly, Lawson, Stroll, Colapinto, Bearman and Bortoleto.
"I just braked too early," adcmits Piastri, "it was a good move by Max as well.
"It's disappointing obviously," he continues, "and then we made a few wrong calls after that.
"Not our best Sunday, lots to look at and review after that one. We'll see what we can do a bit better.
"It was tricky, the VSC was perfectly timed for Max and Lando, and I had used both my tyres at that point so it made my last race start tricky, I didn't have enough grip so third it is."
"It was a long race," adds Norris, "not easy to overtake but we did what we could.
"Max drove a good race, they were quick today, probably a little quicker.
"A good race, for us as a team second and third is great as they were too good for us today.
"With George, he was struggling with the tyres a lot so it is a situation you have to take advantage of, we are racing, but he is a good racer, a fair racer."
"The start wasn't particularly great," says Verstappen, "but I was on the outside line, the normal line and I just thought well, I'll try and send it and it worked out well.
"Then I could unleash the pace, we were good on our tyres.
"The VSC was handy," he admits, "even on the hard tyre our pace was strong. The restart we managed well and brought it home.
"Incredibly proud of everyone, the car has performed well and the execution of the whole race was very good."
Not a thriller by any stretch, and basically settled in Turn 2, which is why it would have been unfair to Verstappen lose out courtesy of that late Safety Car.
Despite the fact that McLaren has the best car, Mighty Max is not going to give up without a fight and other than his brilliance there is the fact that as time goes on the Woking team is going to be compromised by its intra-team battle.
A good result for Hamilton and Albon, while Hadjar also did brilliantly. Kudos also to Tsunoda following his pitlane start and that horrendous crash yesterday.
If this is farewell to Imola (and hello to the likes of Madring!!!) Verstappen's opening lap move was a good way to say farewell to a track that has given us triumph and tragedy over the years, and what better way to celebrate Red Bull's 400.
Now we head to Monaco and the infamous mandatory two-stopper, introduced in a bid to 'spice up' a race that is traditionally processional, and a track where a good grid position and perfect opening lap could see Verstappen rub the Woking team's noses in it once again.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Imola here.