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Top 10 pace on Friday in Imola (Williams)
Carlos Sainz Jnr: 'In FP1 on soft tyres we were quick, but in FP2 we need to understand why we didn’t extract the maximum out of that tyre. On mediums however, the balance felt very good, so we need to work to understand the C6 and get ready for qualifying.'
First day of on-track action complete in Imola (Mercedes)
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: 'I struggled to put everything together on my single laps today. There were some mistakes on my side and the low grip conditions did not make it ideal to get the C6 compound performing. On the other side, I felt good on the long runs with the car providing a good overall balance.'
Practice recap (Haas)
'It was a tough Friday, there’s a lot we need to figure out. Today we struggled a lot with the front end of the car. We spotted a few things, so we need to go over the data tonight but clearly there’s something not quite right, so we need to get on top of that tomorrow.'
Roger Penske one-on-one: Palou's dominance, new car coming, Power's future (Fox)
'Do you have confidence that Chevrolet and Honda will continue with the series? 'We’re doing everything we can to renew the contracts. We're good through ’26, and we want to renew these contracts. We have one or two manufacturers that have also shown interest at this point.''
Camara leaves it late to beat Ramos to pole position in Imola (Formula 3)
'Rafael Camara made it three consecutive pole positions to start the 2025 season after leaving it late to take the top spot from Van Amersfoort Racing’s Santiago Ramos at dramatic Imola qualifying.'
Beganovic earns maiden F2 pole after late red flag (Formula 2)
'Montoya hit the front next for Prema, but his time was bettered by Beganovic by just 0.003s. The Swede got his 1'27.418 in just before the red flags were waving.'
Meet the 'invisible crew' who have 35 seconds to prevent a Eurovision blunder (BBC)
''We call it the Formula 1 tyre change,' says Richard van Rouwendaal, the affable Dutch stage manager who makes it all work.'
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown driving his Lotus 79 at Imola today.
#F1 #EmiliaRomagnaGP #RaceFans
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— RaceFans (@racefans.net) 16 May 2025 at 16:36
The FIA steward fined Ferrari €5,000 (£4,200) for changing the front tyre pressures on Charles Leclerc's car during first practice before the original pressures had been checked.
#F1 #EmiliaRomagnaGP #RaceFans
— RaceFans (@racefans.net) 16 May 2025 at 17:46
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Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Ponzonha and Tenerifeman!
On this day in motorsport
- 45 years ago today Didier Pironi put his Ligier on pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix
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Jere (@jerejj)
17th May 2025, 6:38
I’m doubtful COTD’s suggested scenario could occur even in the long term & some of those circuits wouldn’t have been dropped in the first place if F1 truly desired them.
More or less, only Spa, Montmelo, & Imola are viable options for bi-annual hosting space & otherwise.
Not only the same restaurant, but also the same table once again for what’s become a traditional Imola dinner for senior team personnel, Domenicali, & Isola.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
17th May 2025, 7:42
The team principals won’t all be there in Imola next year to have the annual dinner. Well done, Stefano!
S Arkazam
17th May 2025, 8:09
With so many ex-F1 circuits in Europe it might be time to create a new series.
If European countries step out of FIA and create a FEUA (Sainz Sr as President) then they can start a new series (Feurmola 1) based on the best F1 technical regulations and race on all those historic circuits.
anon
17th May 2025, 9:35
S Arkazam, it’s the sort of idea that would probably be supported by the fans for about 15 minutes, before they would then return to grumbling that the regulations are wrong, that the tracks are boring and they should use different venues, that there’s too much political infighting and so on.
S Arkazam
17th May 2025, 12:54
Then let’s do it.
We all have fun for 15min, and after that I can comment about the hypocrisy of other fans afterwards whilst enjoying the races ;)
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
17th May 2025, 11:14
I remember saying in 2004 when Bahrain & China came onto the F1 calender with Turkey on the way the following year that it was going to be the start of the end for many of the classic venues because it opened the door for state funding on levels none of the classic venues could compete with.
And you also have the fact that Liberty media aren’t racing people and so have no emotional attachment to the sport, it’s history or heritage. Yes they have brought in racing people such as Stefano Domenicali as CEO of F1 group but he still has to answer to Liberty media and it’s shareholders and he still ultimately has to be able to go to them and show that he’s maximising F1’s potential revenue.
S
17th May 2025, 13:01
The whole ‘state funding’ thing was becoming a major issue long before 2004. It’s THE reason why the Australian GP moved from Adelaide to Melbourne for the 1996 event, for example – Melbourne has deeper pockets.
Liberty’s ‘F1 people’ fit in so well there because they, too, are money people. They had plenty of responsibility for it as team bosses, and they also like to collect as much of it as possible personally.