Team by team review of Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Team by team review of Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, seventh round of the 24-race Formula One world championship (listed in current order):

RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 8)

Verstappen led from his record-equalling eighth successive pole position and took his fifth win in seven races this season, 59th of his career and third at Imola after 2021 and 2022. He now has a 48 point lead over Leclerc. It was close, with Norris catching up at the end, finishing 0.7 seconds behind, and Verstappen’s hard tyres losing grip with the champion also at risk of a penalty after exceeding track limits. Perez started 11th on hard tyres and lost second place in the championship.

FERRARI (Charles Leclerc 3, Carlos Sainz 5)

Leclerc finished where he started. His pace picked up when he switched to the hard tyres on lap 25 and he was able to put some pressure on Norris before the Briton pulled away. Sainz pitted on lap 27 and was unable to stay ahead of Piastri.

MCLAREN (Lando Norris 2, Oscar Piastri 4)

Norris started on the front row, after Piastri was handed a three place grid drop for impeding Kevin Magnussen in qualifying, and took his fourth podium in seven races. He came close to repeating his Miami breakthrough win, finishing 0.7 behind Verstappen after picking up pace in a much stronger second stint on hard tyres. Piastri gained a place from Sainz in his pitstop. McLaren were the highest scoring team from the weekend.

MERCEDES (Lewis Hamilton 6, George Russell 7)

Both started on medium tyres, Russell in sixth and Hamilton eighth. Hamilton passed Tsunoda at the start, with Russell pitting on lap 21 and Hamilton on 27 for hards. Russell then made a precautionary second stop for used mediums on lap 52, losing a place to Hamilton but claiming the bonus point for fastest lap.

ASTON MARTIN (Lance Stroll 9, Fernando Alonso 19)

Alonso started from the pit lane on soft tyres after crashing in practice and then having a difficult qualifying. He made an early stop on lap eight and played a team game, stopping again three laps from the end for another set of softs. His left front brakes flamed at the first stop. Stroll did a long first stint on medium tyres and was then able to pass Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda later on with newer hards.

RB (Yuki Tsunoda 10, Daniel Ricciardo 13)

Tsunoda took a point for the team at their home race after losing positions at the start. He made an earlier pitstop than planned and had to manage the hard tyre for the last 15 laps. Ricciardo also lost places at the start and then got stuck in traffic later on.

HAAS (Nico Hulkenberg 11, Kevin Magnussen 12)

Hulkenberg started 10th on mediums and was up to eighth at the end of lap one. He pitted on lap 13 and then lost positions to Tsunoda and Perez before being passed by Stroll. Magnussen started 18th and did a long first stint before pitting on lap 37 for hard tyres and gaining six places.

ALPINE (Esteban Ocon 14, Pierre Gasly 16)

Gasly took a gamble on the soft tyres at the start but it did not work and he pitted on laps eight and 30. Ocon started on mediums and switched to hards.

WILLIAMS (Logan Sargeant 17, Alex Albon retired)

Albon’s race was over after a right front wheel problem at his first pitstop meant he had to pit again, and was then handed a 10 second stop and go penalty for the car being released in an unsafe condition. Sargeant had a lot of blue flags waved at him but managed to pass Valtteri Bottas at the end.

SAUBER (Guanyu Zhou 15, Valtteri Bottas 18)

Zhou started on the hard tyre while Bottas did the longest stint of all with 54 on the hards after starting on mediums and making an early stop but then suffered tyre wear at the end. Zhou and Ocon banged wheels, the Chinese driver losing position.