Max Verstappen took victory in the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, beating McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to take his second win of the season.
The move which won Verstappen the race
The four-time champion took the lead from Piastri at turn one, the famous Variante Tamburello, and never looked back, leading every lap of the 63-lap race. Speaking in the post-race press conference, he walked through the start and the strong move on Piastri.
“Yeah, the initial start wasn’t that amazing, but then Turn 2, luckily, worked out quite well for me. So I was, of course, happy to be in the lead, but I was still not entirely sure how quick we were going to be because, of course, I was also in the lead in Miami, but we did not have a great pace there. So, I just tried to follow a bit my rhythm.
“I do think the car felt a bit nicer, a bit more controlled to drive now also in the long run, and that helped me, I think, also then look after the tyres probably a bit more than normal. So, yeah, overall, quite surprising, but, of course, very happy with what we showed today. Just hope that we can, you know, show this kind of performance a bit more often.”
Whilst Verstappen didn’t get away quicker than Piastri or third-placed qualifier George Russell, he managed to get ahead of Piastri. Verstappen explained that he managed to get ahead due to carrying more speed and that after that, the only drama he had was the bumpiness of the track.
“I think it’s a bit like I started to carry a bit more speed to the apex. And then at one point, you have that kind of momentum swing then going into Turn 3.
He continued:”And then, of course, I knew that I was ahead, but it all goes so fast. And you have to be really precise, you know, to try and not go too far offline. But, yeah, luckily, the grip was alright there.” “It’s bumpy. So, yeah, my back is pretty hurting.”
Tyre strategy changing due to Virtual Safety Car and Safety Car deployments
The Dutchman led the opening 28 laps on the mediums and benefitted from the Virtual Safety Car being deployed for Esteban Ocon’s stricken Haas.
Verstappen said he did not think the mediums were going to last much longer than they did. He also said that a one-stop was possible, but a one-stop didn’t happen due to the retirement of Kimi Antonelli which brought out the Safety Car.
“Not a lot. I mean, they were getting quite destroyed. It was already quite hard to be consistent in those last few laps. So, it wouldn’t have been long before I think I was in. Yeah, for sure. I mean, that’s why we just kept on going. I think Lando and I would have done a one-stop.”
Looking forward to Monaco
The Red Bull driver commented on the high-speed nature of Imola, which contrasts that of the Monaco streets, which are where Formula One goes next weekend. He doesn’t believe Monaco will be any easier than it was for him last year, where he finished sixth.
“I do think again, you know, this track has quite a few high-speed corners, which I think our car likes. I also think we took a step forward with the setup of the car, which helps. Monaco is, of course, very, very different. So, let’s see how we are going to perform there.
“You know, last year was very difficult for us. I don’t expect it to be a lot easier this time around because there’s, of course, 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.”
