IMOLA, Italy — For 63 laps on Sunday, Max Verstappen returned to his comfort zone, commanding the race from the cockpit of his Red Bull against the picturesque backdrop of Imola`s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. With his car performing optimally, the Pirelli tires in their sweet spot, and rivals far behind, he looked completely in control.
When everything aligns for Verstappen, the four-time F1 world champion appears unbeatable. Despite McLaren`s strategy decisions, the timing of safety cars, or the best efforts from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, nothing could halt Verstappen`s drive towards his second victory of the season.
His only other win this year, at the Japanese Grand Prix in early April, came despite issues with his car`s handling. This victory, however, showcased a perfect synergy between driver and machine. It almost made Verstappen`s 22-point deficit to Piastri in the championship standings—a gap that had actually grown between his Japan and Imola wins—seem insignificant.
Yet, even under the hot Italian sun, one success doesn`t guarantee future performance. As impressive as Verstappen`s display was, questions linger about how consistently this level of performance can be replicated throughout the rest of the season.
Verstappen Dominates in Imola
Verstappen`s victory was effectively sealed by his exceptional overtake on Piastri at the very first corner. Piastri, seemingly preoccupied with George Russell`s Mercedes right behind him, braked relatively early for the entry to Tamburello, leaving a crucial gap on the outside – a space a driver like Verstappen was certain to exploit.
`I thought I had it pretty under control, so it was a good move from Max,` Piastri commented. `Yeah, I`ll learn for next time, clearly. At that point, I wasn`t overly concerned to not be in the lead, but then our pace just wasn`t as strong as I expected, so that compounded that first corner.`
As Piastri acknowledged, the maneuver proved decisive for the race outcome, requiring immense bravery, skill, and precision to execute.
`It was win it or bin it,` Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said after the race. `And again, he`s just so good in that situation where he just sees a gap and it`s so decisive for him.`
From that point onwards, Verstappen held complete control.
As has been typical all season, the leading car benefits significantly from clean air, allowing for optimal tire management. Conversely, a car running closely behind inevitably suffers greater tire wear while following in a rival`s turbulent wake. Behind Verstappen, signs of stress on Piastri`s front right tire began to appear after just 10 laps, and the rubber graining was already hindering his ability to match the Red Bull`s pace.
Before the race, a one-stop strategy appeared to be the most direct route to victory, particularly for the leader after the first lap. However, a two-stop option was also considered viable on paper.
`I think Plan A is very ambitious at the moment,` Piastri relayed over team radio, referring to the feasibility of a one-stop race.
The McLaren pit wall agreed, calling car 81 into the pits at the end of Lap 13. While it was a decision from which Piastri`s race never truly recovered, McLaren defended it that Sunday evening.
`I think at the time, Oscar`s tires were going off by a good chunk and Oscar was passing some feedback that that was the case,` explained team principal Andrea Stella. `It was unclear entering this event whether it would have been a one- or a two-stop. If it was a two, [Lap 13] was the time to go.`
`And if the hard tires had behaved just a little bit better, then the two-stop would have been a very strong strategy, despite having to overtake some other cars. But once he went on hard tires, actually it wasn`t much faster than Lando and Max that stayed out on the used medium.`
`I think the hard tires were a little less competitive than we thought, but we needed to deviate and create the condition to beat Max today. So I think this is something that you can only judge in hindsight, but if you deviate, that was the time to go for a two-stop.`
`So no regrets. Ultimately, for the team it`s the same outcome, and for Oscar it could have been the way to win, and sometimes when you take some risks to win, there may be a little bit of a downside.`
A Virtual Safety Car (VSC) on Lap 29, deployed to clear Esteban Ocon`s retired Haas, presented an opportunity for the entire field to pit just before the halfway mark. Unfortunately for McLaren, Norris had made his only scheduled stop on the lap immediately preceding the VSC, meaning he couldn`t benefit from the time-saving pit stop that Verstappen enjoyed a lap later. This resulted in a 20-second gap opening between them once both had stopped and normal racing resumed.
The VSC also prompted Piastri to make his second pit stop earlier than planned on Lap 30. This meant he completed his two-stop strategy without gaining the tire offset advantage over the one-stoppers and had used up all his effectively useful race tire sets.
Piastri had started the race with just one set of medium tires and two sets of hards remaining in his allocation; his three used soft sets from qualifying offered little utility in race conditions. This might not have been a major issue if the race had run to its natural conclusion. However, when a full Safety Car was deployed on Lap 46, he had no fresh medium or hard tires available to switch to. Consequently, he had to remain on track while Verstappen and Norris both pitted for their final remaining set of hards.
Piastri gained one position, moving up to second, as a result of his teammate pitting under the safety car. But with tires 17 laps older when racing resumed, he couldn`t keep Norris behind. As the two McLarens battled for the remaining podium spots, Verstappen comfortably extended his lead to take the victory.
While the race circumstances clearly worked against McLaren, it was also evident for the first time this year that Red Bull possessed the superior race car on the day.
`I think today we attempted to unlock various scenarios to try and beat Max, but at no stage I think we saw that we had enough race pace,` Stella stated. `Even with the final safety car, Lando could pass Oscar and try to push as much as possible, but pretty much Max was responding to Lando.`
Is Verstappen Back in the Title Fight?
The high-speed corners that characterize the Imola circuit and give it its classic feel undoubtedly played to the strengths of Red Bull compared to McLaren. Unlike the twisty, slow-speed sections of Miami that suited the McLaren so well two weeks prior, Imola was always expected to provide a more balanced contest between the grid`s two fastest cars.
`After coming from a race like Miami, in which our pace was very strong, we knew that because of the track layout and the slightly different ambient conditions this race would have been just more balanced from a race pace point of view,` Stella commented. `But I have to say, today we were still a little surprised by the pace of Red Bull, which was very competitive.`
`Well done to Max, well done to Red Bull, for being able to pull off this kind of performance, which meant that the race was very much decided by the swap of position between Oscar and Max in Corner 1. After that we tried to chase him, but effectively we didn`t have enough race pace today to be able to beat Max, taking the lead after Lap 1.`
Horner added: `This win was sort of unthinkable two weeks ago [in Miami]. I think it`s an important win for the team at this stage of the championship. It feels like we`re building a little bit of momentum behind the scenes. The factory, everybody behind the scenes, is working incredibly hard. It`s a timely win championship-wise; it keeps the pressure on and keeps us in touch.`
Red Bull introduced upgrades to the car`s floor in Miami and complemented these with further modifications in Imola. During Friday`s practice sessions, the car remained challenging to drive, but setup adjustments made before Saturday`s final practice session finally began to unlock previously inaccessible lap time potential.
`We still have work to do, but I do think it`s been a very positive weekend for us,` Verstappen said. `Of course, we brought upgrades and I think they worked. Friday was very difficult still, but then I think we found a better setup for Saturday, and I just hope that we can use that a bit more often because it definitely brought the car in a better window.`
By finding a setup that minimized car sliding, Verstappen was able to manage his tires more effectively, resulting in improved degradation control and greater pace during the race.
The crucial question now is whether the performance step seen in Imola will translate to similar results on other circuits. Determining how much of Verstappen`s dominant performance was due to the specific characteristics of the Imola track versus genuine progress made by Red Bull will be a key focus of both teams` data analysis from Sunday. Conveniently, next weekend`s race on the slow-speed corners of Monaco`s famous street circuit could provide a clear answer.
`I do think, again, this track has quite a few high-speed corners, which I think our car likes,` Verstappen added. `I also think we took a step forward with the setup of the car, which helps, but Monaco is, of course, very, very different. So, let`s see how we are going to perform there. Last year was very difficult for us. I don`t expect it to be a lot easier this time around because there`s a lot of low-speed, but we`ll see.`
`I mean, it`s just one race on the calendar, where you try to do the best you can. Even after that, there`s a lot of races left, but, of course, you can clearly see that once we go to high-speed tracks and corners, then we are more competitive.`
For McLaren, the reaction to Sunday`s defeat will be analytical rather than knee-jerk. Putting aside the anomaly of Verstappen`s remarkable victory in Japan, the first six races demonstrated the MCL39`s strength as a leading contender, and this is likely to remain true across a variety of upcoming circuits. Nevertheless, the championship leaders are keenly aware that their closest rival may have indeed taken a significant step forward.
`We will have to look at the data, we will have to look at the behavior of the tires and their thermal regime, but I think what`s happening today is a combination [of factors],` Stella concluded. `Red Bull, I think they have improved; they`ve been developing their car over the last couple of races and I think they have taken a step forward.`
`And then if we look at the speed of the corners and we compare with the speed in Miami, the car operates in a completely different part of the aerodynamic maps here, and I think we know that our car is strong in track layouts like Miami or Bahrain or China, but when it comes to high-speed corners like we have here in Imola, I don`t think we enjoy any particular advantage.`
`So the track layout, the progress of Red Bull, I think they are the two factors that meant that we didn`t have much advantage today.`
