Pace, slays, fails - the 2025 Imola race (GP)

Esther Kienapfel
May 18
3 min read

Imola Grand Prix 2025 promised to be an interesting race from Friday up to Saturday’s qualifying. And it did not disappoint. With Red Bulls new updates and Williams also making a statement in Q3, Sunday was set for an exciting start.

The first corner already proved worth the watch. Although not having a good start Max Verstappen overtook Oscar Piastri, the pole sitter, in a stunning manoeuvre. After Gasly drove over the gravel in lap3 and Norris overtook Russel for p4 in lap11, the first half of the race proved pretty much uninteresting.

Piastri pitted quite early on in the race, going for a two stop strategy, did however face a quite bad pit stop with over three seconds. He was left on place 11 but moved up through the ranks throughout the following laps, finding himself on p4 in lap 28.

Two laps later Ocon faced an issue with his car, causing a yellow flag and a virtual safety car. This was to the benefit of Max Verstappen, who was able to pit under these conditions, saving himself 10 seconds.

Piastri also absolved another pit stop, worse than the first one with 4.4 seconds.

Through a few other overtakes, Albon and Hadjar proved themselves strong in today’s race. Albon stayed up on p4 and Hadjar also fought at the top throughout the entirety of the race.

In lap 46 Antonelli was confronted with an issue in the car and retired. The drivers faced a yellow flag and a safety car, causing the pretty stretched out grid to group up again.

This made the restart interesting as it was another chance for McLaren to fight for p1. The safety car lasted for 6 laps before the track was green again in lap53. Piastri, who found himself behind Verstappen, had only old tyres and wasn’t able to fight for the first position. His teammate Lando Norris, placed behind him, overtook him 5 laps later in lap58.

In the last laps we also witnessed a long fight between Albon on 5 and Leclerc on 4. They kept fighting up until Albon left the track and drove over the gravel, causing him to not only lose the fight but also lose another position to Hamilton. The fight picked up again after Hamilton overtook Leclerc and, in the face of a possible penalty, the latter was told to give back his position to Albon in the very last lap.

The race ended with Verstappen taking the victory and a McLaren 2-3, with Norris on 2 and Piastri on 3. He was followed by Hamilton on 4, Albon on 5, Leclerc on 6, Russell on 7, Sainz on 8, Hadjar on 9 and Tsunoda on 10.

Compared to the last races, Mercedes were pretty disappointing with no real ability to fight and always being placed around 7 and 8 during the race and also finishing no higher.

Ferrari however, who brought small updates to Imola, improved significantly compared to Friday. They proved themselves able to fight and win, a true slay for them in their home country.

Williams also proved themselves worthy of attention, with both drivers placed in the points. It will definitely be fascinating to see where Williams will be going with their car.

The next race to be held is the famous Monaco Grand Prix. We can’t wait to see what will happen and you know, one never misses the Monaco Grand Prix.