By Laurence Edmondson
IMOLA, Italy — On Sunday at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Max Verstappen seemed to rediscover his comfort zone for 63 laps. Amidst the picturesque scenery of Imola, he was once again expertly guiding his Red Bull from the cockpit, commanding the race with ample performance, perfect tire management, and rivals left far behind.
When circumstances align for Verstappen, the four-time F1 world champion appears unbeatable. Neither McLaren`s strategic choices, the timing of safety cars, nor the best efforts of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could prevent Verstappen from securing his second win of the season.
His only previous victory this year, at the Japanese Grand Prix in early April, was achieved despite his car`s handling issues, but the win at Imola exemplified a perfect synergy between driver and machine. This performance was so commanding that it almost made Verstappen`s 22-point gap to Piastri in the championship standings seem insignificant, despite that gap having widened between his wins.
However, even under the bright Italian sun, one standout performance doesn`t guarantee continued success. Despite Verstappen`s impressive drive, it remains uncertain how consistently he can replicate this level of performance throughout the remainder of the season.
Verstappen`s Dominance at Imola
Verstappen`s path to victory began with a remarkable overtake on Piastri into the first corner. Piastri, seemingly focused on George Russell`s Mercedes right behind him, braked relatively early for Tamburello, leaving a gap on the outside big enough for a Red Bull, an opportunity Verstappen was always going to seize.
“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 noted, the maneuver was crucial to the outcome of the race, demonstrating the bravery, skill, and precision required to execute it.
“Oscar left the slightest of gaps and Max just sent it,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said after the race. “It was win it or bin it. 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 moment, Verstappen took control.
As has been typical this season, the leading car benefits from clear air to manage tires optimally, while a car following closely inevitably stresses its tires in the wake of a competitor. Trailing Verstappen, Piastri`s front-right tire showed signs of wear after just 10 laps, with visible graining limiting his ability to match the Red Bull`s pace.
Before the race, a one-stop strategy was considered the most favorable route to victory, particularly for the leader, though a two-stop was also viable on paper.
“I think Plan A is very ambitious at the moment,” Piastri reported over team radio, expressing doubts about the one-stop strategy`s feasibility.
The McLaren pit wall agreed, calling car 81 in at the end of Lap 13. While Piastri`s race never fully recovered from this decision, McLaren defended it post-race.
“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,” team principal Andrea Stella explained. “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, triggered by Esteban Ocon`s broken-down Haas, presented an opportunity for the entire field to pit around the halfway mark. Unfortunately for McLaren, Norris had completed his only pit stop the lap before the VSC, missing the time advantage Verstappen gained by pitting a lap later. This resulted in a 20-second gap between them once racing resumed at normal speed.
The VSC also prompted Piastri to make his second stop earlier than planned on lap 30. This meant he finished his two-stop strategy without benefiting from a tire advantage over the one-stoppers and had used up his best race tires. Piastri had only one set of medium tires and two hards remaining before the race, with his used softs from qualifying being unsuitable for racing. This wasn`t a major issue if the race ran normally, but when a safety car deployed on Lap 46, he had no fresh medium or hard tires left. Consequently, he stayed out while Verstappen and Norris both pitted for their last remaining set of hards.
Piastri temporarily moved to second place as his teammate pitted under the safety car, but with tires 17 laps older when the race restarted, he couldn`t hold off Norris. As the two McLarens battled for the remaining podium spots, Verstappen comfortably pulled away to secure the victory.
The way the race unfolded clearly disadvantaged McLaren, but for the first time this year, it was also evident that Red Bull possessed the superior race car.
“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 admitted. “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 a Title Contender Again?
The high-speed corners characteristic of the Imola circuit undoubtedly favored Red Bull`s strengths over McLaren`s. Compared to the slow-speed sections in Miami that suited McLaren just two weeks prior, Imola was always expected to provide a more evenly matched contest between the top two 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 floor upgrades in Miami and further modifications at Imola. The car was difficult to drive during Friday practice, but setup adjustments before Saturday`s final practice session finally unlocked previously unattainable lap time, the best the car had felt all year.
“We still have work to do, but I do think it`s been a very positive weekend for us,” Verstappen stated. “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 balance that reduced sliding, Verstappen could better manage his tires, leading to improved degradation and faster race pace.
The key question now is whether the progress seen at Imola will translate into similar performances at other circuits. Both Red Bull and McLaren will be analyzing the data to determine how much of Verstappen`s advantage was circuit-specific versus genuine performance improvement. Next weekend`s race through the slow-speed corners of Monaco`s famous street circuit could provide a clearer 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 response to Sunday`s defeat will be analytical rather than reactive. Discounting Verstappen`s exceptional win in Japan, the MCL39 was arguably the leading car in the first six races and is likely to be strong on many upcoming circuits. Nevertheless, the championship leaders are fully aware that their main rival may have made 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.”
Dominic Ashworth