Oscar Piastri is on pole position and eyeing a fourth consecutive grand prix victory. Will Max Verstappen, Lando Norris or anyone else keep him from extending his championship lead?
Here’s the key data for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.Weather
Pleasantly warm conditions are expected for Sunday’s grand prix with air temperatures in the low-to-mid 20s. There is a very low risk of rain – no more than 10%.
Start
Imola has one of the longest runs from the start line to turn one of the year. However its unusual configuration lends the pole-winner a considerable advantage.
Oscar Piastri will line up on the inside of the curving run towards the first corner, Tamburello. That plus the relatively narrow track puts him at an advantage, and unless Max Verstappen gets away very well from second place, the McLaren driver will have the option of forcing him wide into the gravel, which he will be at pains to avoid.
For that reason there tends not to be big changes in the starting order on lap one. Last year the top six on the grid next their places on lap one.
Distance from pole position to first braking zone. Source: Mercedes
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Strategy
Some drivers ran their mediums in qualifying, notably George Russell, so they can expect the tyres won’t last as long over a stint. Whether that will be sufficient to push them into pitting twice remains to be seen.
But Imola has the most time-sapping pit lane of the season. Drivers lose 28 seconds making a pit stop, so they will be anxious to avoid two-stopping at all costs.
Last year drivers chose the following compounds to start the race on:
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Tyre compound |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | Medium |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | Medium |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Medium |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | Medium |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | Medium |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | Medium |
| 7 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | Medium |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Medium |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | Medium |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | Medium |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | Hard |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | Medium |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | Medium |
| 14 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | Medium |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | Soft |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | Medium |
| 17 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber-Ferrari | Hard |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | Medium |
| 19 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | Hard |
| 20 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | Soft |
The drivers have the following tyres available for the race:
| Tyres available for the race | Hard | Medium | Soft | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | New | Used | New | Used | New | Used |
| Oscar Piastri | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Max Verstappen | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| George Russell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Lando Norris | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Fernando Alonso | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Alexander Albon | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Lance Stroll | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Isack Hadjar | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Pierre Gasly | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Charles Leclerc | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Gabriel Bortoleto | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Franco Colapinto | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Liam Lawson | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Esteban Ocon | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Oliver Bearman | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
Overtaking
There have been no DRS zone changes for this year’s race. Although overtaking at Imola is generally regarded as difficult, there is a long zone on the approach to Tamburello. This makes overtaking feasible once a driver can get within range – but getting that close in the first place is often far easier said than done.
Any drivers risking wheel-to-wheel contact will have to keep their penalty points situation in mind. Verstappen still has the most, with eight.
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Speed trap
| P. | # | Driver | Car | Engine | Model | Max kph (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | Renault | A525 | 303.2 (188.4) |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Ferrari | SF-25 | 302.6 (188.0) |
| 3 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Renault | A525 | 302.1 (187.7) |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | Mercedes | W16 | 302.1 (187.7) |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | Ferrari | SF-25 | 301.8 (187.5) |
| 6 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | Ferrari | VF-25 | 301.6 (187.4) |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | Mercedes | MCL39 | 301.0 (187.0) |
| 8 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Honda RBPT | RB21 | 301.0 (187.0) |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | Ferrari | VF-25 | 300.7 (186.8) |
| 10 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | Honda RBPT | 02 | 300.7 (186.8) |
| 11 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | Mercedes | MCL39 | 300.2 (186.5) |
| 12 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | Ferrari | C45 | 300.0 (186.4) |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | Ferrari | C45 | 299.9 (186.3) |
| 14 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | Mercedes | AMR25 | 299.6 (186.2) |
| 15 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | Mercedes | AMR25 | 299.6 (186.2) |
| 16 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams | Mercedes | FW47 | 299.0 (185.8) |
| 17 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | Honda RBPT | 02 | 298.9 (185.7) |
| 18 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | Mercedes | W16 | 298.8 (185.7) |
| 19 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | Mercedes | FW47 | 298.2 (185.3) |
| 20 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | Honda RBPT | RB21 | 258.6 (160.7) |
Safety Cars
A Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car period may tip the balance for drivers who are hedging over whether to make an extra pit stop. But despite the many gravel traps and lack of run-off, there were no such interventions last year.
Grid
The grid for this year’s race is as follows. Any changes between now and the start of the race will be added here:
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Championship implications
If the drivers finish where they start, Piastri will score his fourth consecutive victory and extend his championship lead to 29 points over team mate Lando Norris. Work out all the championship possibilities here:
Over to you
Do you expect another McLaren win or will one of their rivals take the fight to them? And what can Ferrari salvage from their poor starting positions?
Share your views on the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in the comments.
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2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
- Antonelli was tiring from home race at Imola attention by Friday – Wolff
- Ferrari struggling to recreate set-up which “worked well” in Shanghai – Hamilton
- Verstappen told Red Bull to use Tsunoda before “hold him up” call
- ‘Saturdays have been mine for years but for some reason it’s drifted away’ – Norris
- “Plan C?”: Why McLaren only got their strategy right for one driver at Imola
Jere (@jerejj)
18th May 2025, 5:52
Do you expect another McLaren win or will one of their rivals take the fight to them?
– The race victory will likely be Piastri’s to lose if he keeps the lead into & through the Tamburello combo, so I predict another victory, mostly based on recent form.
And what can Ferrari salvage from their poor starting positions?
– They’re lucky if they can salvage low points & the same for Antonelli, for that matter.
The available tyre compounds have since appeared on the official F1 site’s strategy guide article & to note the top-four starters, both PIA & VER have one set of medium & two sets of hard (these compound sets entirely unused).
RUS only has the hardest compound left entirely unused since he used his only remaining medium set in Q3, & NOR has one unused set of each, with his other hard set used for a single installation lap in FP3.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
18th May 2025, 8:46
Not holding my breath for an exciting race, given the tire deg advantage for McLaren in long runs. Probably a flat and boring win for Piastri, just like his after-race broadcasts.
Jere (@jerejj)
18th May 2025, 11:35
Same. One of F1’s least overtaking-friendly current circuits combined witth tyre deg & DRS activation zone starting point, so I don’t have much hope for good racing quality.
BasCB (@bascb)
18th May 2025, 13:21
Yeah, unless something really unexpected happens Piastri should just be able to build a bit of a gap, pit without much risk and bring it home. We might see some talk about Norris being able to jump Russel and / or Max, and it might happen if the tyres hold really well for him and maybe Russel will have to do a 2 stopper.
Ferrari will probably see some decent pace before either just dwindling with wear on one set or getting their strategy wrong again.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
18th May 2025, 10:02
Baring major incidents, I fear it could all be over by lap 3.
I’m interested to see how Max behaves at the start if he comes under pressure from George or Lando.
I’m also going to be watching the Aston’s closely. Though on this track, even with their new(ey) upgrades, they will struggle to pass the guys in front.