Oscar Piastri gave McLaren their first pole position at Imola for 20 years last weekend.
However he was unable to convert it into victory – as was also the case on the previous four occasions one of the team’s cars started from pole position at this track.Raikkonen scorched off into an early lead in 2005 but his driveshaft failed on the ninth lap. Without that, the race might not have ended so memorably, Fernando Alonso taking the chequered flag with Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari filling his mirrors.
McLaren also lost from pole position for three years running between 1999 and 2001. Mika Hakkinen took pole in 1999 but crashed, then started at the front again the following year but Schumacher leapfrogged him in the pits to win.
Piastri could have taken his fourth consecutive win this year. But his loss was Verstappen’s gain, the Red Bull driver claiming his 65th win and 34th fastest lap.
It was also Verstappen’s fourth win in a row in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. His record at Imola has been remarkable: four wins in five races, and in the other he was running a strong second when he suffered a tyre explosion.
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With Imola unlikely to appear on the 2026 F1 calendar, its 32nd grand prix is likely to be its last for a while. Only a dozen circuits have held more F1 rounds:
| Rank | Circuit | Country | Grands prix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monza | Italy | 74 |
| 2 | Monaco | Monaco | 70 |
| 3 | Silverstone | Great Britain | 59 |
| 4 | Spa-Francorchamps | Belgium | 57 |
| 5 | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal | Canada | 43 |
| =6 | Interlagos | Brazil | 41 |
| =6 | Nurburgring | Germany | 41 |
| 8 | Hungaroring | Hungary | 39 |
| 9 | Hockenheimring | Germany | 37 |
| 10 | Suzuka | Japan | 35 |
| =11 | Circuit de Catalunya | Spain | 34 |
| =11 | Zandvoort | Netherlands | 34 |
| 13 | Imola | Italy | 32 |
Ferrari won the last race at Imola during its previous spell on the calendar, when the race was known as the San Marino Grand Prix. However it was unable to win the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: its best result was Charles Leclerc’s third place last year.
Piastri took his third pole position but failed to convert that into victory for the first time in his career. He now has as many pole positions as Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Tony Brooks, Dan Gurney, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Jody Scheckter, Elio de Angelis, Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez and Teo Fabi.
(Coincidentally, Fabi was the last rookie to take pole for the Indianapolis 500 before Robert Shwartzman on Sunday. Fabi took pole in 1983; Shwartzman’s race number is 83.)
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But Fernando Alonso was surely the unhappiest driver after scoring his third 11th place finish in the last five races. He is still yet to score a point over the first seven rounds, which last happened to him in 2017, though on that occasion he skipped the Monaco Grand Prix to race in the Indianapolis 500.
Finally, F1’s stewards seem increasingly fond of the one-place grid penalty. It reappeared at the Qatar Grand Prix late last season having gone unused for four years. But Franco Colapinto’s one-place grid penalty last weekend was the fourth time it’s been issued in the last nine rounds.
Over to you
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix? Share them 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
Derek Edwards
20th May 2025, 11:04
That list of circuits with Grands Prix held is really interesting – I would never have had the Hungaroring in the top ten, but that’s what you get for running without interruption, I guess. Now, if we had a list for memorable Grands Prix held that second place would surely be up for grabs…
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
20th May 2025, 13:50
Zandvoort was the surprise one for me. I didn’t even think it was that much of a regular feature before 1985, but nearly 30 races….. I wouldn’t have guessed.
MacLeod (@macleod)
21st May 2025, 7:56
Zandvoort is from the beginning of F1 1950 (1948) I think so till 1985 yearly then Bernie wanted to much money … then Max Verstappen brought the circuit back after a big modification.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th May 2025, 12:53
Red Bull Racing’s 400th Grand Prix.
Only two drivers have progressed into Q3 at every Grand Prix in Imola within the circuit’s current stint that began in 2020, & they’re Max Verstappen & Lando Norris.
Andrea Antonelli suffered his first retirement in F1 & Esteban Ocon his first this season.
Kringle
20th May 2025, 13:04
Ah 2001, a new desktop background, thank you very much!
Simon (@donsimoni)
22nd May 2025, 12:21
Look at those teeny-tiny cars. Three of them next to one another and there’s still space for one of two more.
Goriot
20th May 2025, 18:37
First F1 driver to win Imola: Nelson Piquet.
Last F1 driver to win Imola: Nelson Piquet’s son-in-law.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th May 2025, 19:29
A good coincidence, although this year’s edition mightn’t necessarily remain the last ever occasion of F1 racing in Imola because a post-2026 return is possible in bi-annual hosting format.
Simon
21st May 2025, 0:23
Or not…
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st May 2025, 2:49
Hopefully, as it’s an interesting track, surely more than some that were introduced to the calendar recently and with more money.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
22nd May 2025, 14:45
*First F1 driver to win a World Championship GP at Imola. For example, Jim Clark won the 1963 Imola GP.
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
20th May 2025, 20:16
4th consecutive Imola GP in which Verstappen has won with Norris also on the podium (one of those years being 2022 where this was the only podium to feature a car other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull).
Alonso’s last 5 finishes: 11th, 15th, 11th, 15th, 11th.
First time Hamilton has been classified ahead of Leclerc in a GP this season – Lawson and Colapinto are the only drivers yet to beat a team-mate this year.
McLaren are the only team yet to have a DNF or DSQ in 2025.
17th consecutive season in which Red Bull have managed at least 1 fastest lap – equals Ferrari’s streak from 1995 to 2011 inclusive.
Racing Bulls (including their previous names) have scored in every Emilia-Romagna GP.
Thanks to statsf1 and the official F1 site for some of these.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st May 2025, 2:48
Interesting the norris stat, I remember it was difficult to get on the podium with the mclaren of those years, also liked the alonso stat, guess it says a lot about aston martin’s competitiveness.
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
21st May 2025, 10:50
With Max start to finish leading the race he has now lead 3,560 racing laps overtaking Vettel (3,501 laps) for 3rd behind Schumacher and Hamilton.
When leading the race is measured in distance rather than laps Max is still 4th with 17,459 versus Vettel 18,156km.
Max and Vettel are tied at leading 15 races from start to finish.
Interesting it is not Schumacher that is ahead – had to double check but Schumacher only had 11 start to finish wins, it is Senna with 19 that is 2nd, Lewis is 1st with 23 (2 in first 7 years with Mclaren, 20 the next 7 years with Mercdes and 1 in last 5 years)
Having started 2nd he added another win without pole – almost balancing wins from pole 33 times with wins without pole 32 times.
Scoring his 116th podium Max tied the Netherlands with Austria for 10th place in the nation ranking.
All of the Dutch podiums came from the Verstappen family (Jos 2x and Max 116x)
The Austrian podiums were scored by Rindt (13 times), Lauda (54 times), Berger (48 times) and Wurz (3 times)