Andrea Stella: "We leave Imola with a good haul of points as a team. Coming into the weekend, we knew the track layout and the ambient conditions would make this a much closer race, but we were a little surprised by how strong the Red Bull was today - congratulations to Max.
"The race was decided on the first lap with Max's overtake on Oscar. From there, we tried to unlock various scenarios to re-take the lead. Lando was able to maximise the stint on the Medium and drove a very good race. With Oscar, we deviated to a two-stop strategy. Had the Hard tyres behaved just a little bit better, this would have been a strong strategy, but that's something we have to judge with hindsight. Going for victory always involves some risk, and sometimes when you take a risk, there's a downside. He made some great overtakes to respond to the various factors in the race. The drivers battled cleanly and fairly, ultimately culminating in a double podium for the team.
"The team have worked hard this weekend, produced two reliable cars and put us on Pole position. Overall, it was a positive weekend for McLaren, and we look forward to the next race in Monaco."
Christian Horner: "What a win for Max in Imola! The perfect way to celebrate our 400th race and claim our fourth consecutive victory here. It was an impressive all round performance. Max delivered a sensational move at turn one to take the lead, followed by some strong work in the pit lane from the Team at the opportune moment to deliver a clinical victory. It was also a strong drive for Yuki who got into the points from the pit lane after the Team did a great job to rebuild his car overnight after Qualifying. A great 400th race for the Team which gives us something to build on into Monaco next week!
The Scuderia Ferrari HP duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fought their way up the order in an exciting and action-packed race, making up eight and five places respectively. Lewis came home in fourth place, with Charles sixth, bringing home 20 points for the team. On a track where overtaking is far from easy, the SF-25 proved to have good race pace on the both the Medium and Hard compound tyres.
After a poor qualifying, the team took an aggressive approach to the race, splitting the strategies between the two drivers, with Charles starting from 11th on Medium tyres and Lewis from 12th on Hards. Leclerc did well in the opening stages, passing Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly. He was ninth until lap 10 when the team pitted him for Hard tyres and to put him out in clean air. The move paid off and he was able to undercut several cars, getting up to eighth, thanks also to a strong pace. The Virtual Safety Car was required on lap 29 when Esteban Ocon parked at the side of the track and at this point the team brought Lewis in to switch from Hard to Medium tyres, while Charles also pitted to take on another set of Hards to go to the end of the race. At the restart, Hamilton was seventh and Leclerc tenth. On fresh rubber, the SF-25s passed both the Aston Martins, Kimi Antonelli and Hadjar, rapidly moving up to fifth and sixth places. On lap 46, Antonelli had to park at the side of the track in a position from which it was difficult to have the car removed and so the Safety Car was brought into play. The team therefore called Hamilton in to put him back out on Hards again, as it only cost half the usual time. He rejoined seventh, while Charles stayed out in fourth place. At the restart, Lewis made good use of his new tyres to pass George Russell and set off in pursuit of Alex Albon, who was fighting with Charles. On lap 60, the Thai driver managed to get alongside Leclerc at the first chicane, but Charles was vigorous in defence and the Williams cut the first chicane, which allowed Hamilton to slip past. Lewis then got ahead of his team-mate to take fourth place. For the last two laps, he then pursued third placed Oscar Piastri who was on old tyres, but the Australian was able to hang on. Charles was then asked by the team to give back position to Albon after the move at the first chicane, which was under investigation, as any penalty could have cost him several places.
Tonight, the team returns to Maranello, but it won't be spending much time at Via Enzo Ferrari 27. Round 8 takes place next Sunday in Monaco, Charles Leclerc's home race.
Fred Vasseur: The positive side of today was that our pace was strong from start to finish. We had a good strategy and the pit stops were well executed. Of course, there is some frustration because if we had qualified better, we could have finished higher up the order. It's been three or four races now where we have seen this difference between quali and race pace. We must work on that, but I believe that today's result was the best we could hope for. Lewis drove a very solid race, always running at a strong pace, pulling off some nice overtakes. As for Charles, the Virtual and real Safety Cars did him no favours and I can understand his frustration. But at the time the Safety Car came out, there were still too many laps to go to fit the Softs and I think leaving him out on the Hards was the right decision. In the closing stages, we asked Charles to give back position to Alex Albon, because it was very close and if he had been given a penalty, we would have lost four or five places.
George Russell finishes P7 in Sunday's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with Kimi Antonelli unfortunately retiring following a loss of throttle control. Both drivers opted for a different strategy for Sunday's race; George starting on the used Medium compound he set his Q3 time on in P3, with Kimi on the Hard tyre in P13.
After a strong start, both drivers were limited by rear overheating and struggled to keep the advantage. That necessitated an early stop for George who pitted for the Hard compound on lap 11, switching to the less optimal two-stop strategy.
A mid-race Virtual Safety Car saw both drivers take the opportunity to stop, with George and Kimi fitting the Hard compound. That left our duo outside of the top five respectively before the Safety Car was deployed with Kimi unfortunately having to retire. Green flag racing resumed with 10 laps remaining and George fought hard on old tyres to secure P7.
Following a difficult day for the team, we can bounce back straight away as we head to Monaco for the second Grand Prix in this European triple-header.
Bradley Lord, Team Representative: That was comfortably our most difficult Grand Prix of the season so far. To come away with P7 and a DNF is far below the standards we set ourselves as a team.
From the early laps, George reported a lack of rear stability, and he struggled to keep the rear tyre temperatures under control, which led to accelerated degradation. This forced us into an early stop, and onto a two-stop strategy. He made his second stop under the VSC for Esteban's retirement, and had battled his way back into the points when the Safety Car was called out for Kimi's DNF. It was clear that we would remain on track during this, and George then battled hard to the flag - he was unable to hold off Lewis's fresher-tyred Ferrari behind but then was able to hold position to the finish.
For Kimi, we ran an offset strategy, starting on the hard tyre and making up a position at the start. He was running solidly when we took advantage of the VSC to swap to the Medium tyre and tried to take this to the finish. Kimi managed the stint well but then began to suffer a degrading throttle problem, which ultimately stopped the car on lap 45 - the first retirement of his F1 career.
Overall, the performance picture was a sobering one today: while George qualified strongly, we were unable to race the cars around us and suffered a significant pace limitation from tyre overheating on the rear axle. The primary focus of work in the days ahead to understand why we suffered so badly, and then to make the most of the opportunity we have to bounce back next weekend in Monaco.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: Today was a difficult day for the team and drivers. We were not quick enough to challenge at the front and, to make matters worse, suffered a reliability failure.
We're working to understand the issues on Kimi's car, but the throttle pedal was gradually deteriorating and eventually the system switched off for safety. That problem is unlikely to be too challenging to solve in time for Monaco thankfully.
Our bigger concern is around the pace. It's been another hot race, and we were giving the rear tyres too much of a hard time. We therefore suffered from poor grip and degradation throughout. We've got to get on top of that quickly as there are a lot of hot races coming up and we can't continue to perform at this level. We've got a few days to regroup before Monaco, but we'll be working hard to try and improve from here.
Andy Cowell, CEO & Team Principal: "We came within a whisker of scoring points, but the racing luck was not on our side today. A promising one-stop strategy was undone by the timing of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) which dropped both Fernando and Lance outside the points. With hindsight, we could have pitted again under the VSC, but we did not want to sacrifice track position. We then struggled to hold off those cars with a tyre advantage.
"Nonetheless, we take away the positives from a weekend where we have seen genuine progress. The updates have added some performance and given us direction for the upcoming events. Credit to the drivers, too, who did not put a wheel out of place this weekend. It's onwards to Monaco now which is a very different challenge."
Flavio Briatore: "We were set for a good result today and had a chance for points before the Virtual Safety Car. Particularly with Franco we were planning on a one-stop strategy to the end and with the field being neutralised others were essentially given a free pit-stop. This happens in racing, and the final standings do not reflect where we could have been today. Next, we go to Monaco, one of my home races and a track where we can again have an opportunity to compete."
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished with Oliver Bearman 17th, while Esteban Ocon was forced to retire at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, held Sunday at Imola.
Bearman took the start from 19th place on Pirelli P Zero White hard tires and maintained position, before cycling through into the top 10 by running a lengthy first stint. Bearman pitted for Yellow mediums under virtual safety car conditions on lap 30 - but an issue in the pit stop forced the rookie to stop again one lap later - taking on a set of hard tires. Bearman emerged in 19th position and moved up to 18th following the retirement of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, which brought out the safety car. Bearman passed the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in the final dash to the checkered flag to bring the car home in 17th position.
Ocon started from 18th on medium tires and executed a strong first lap to gain two positions to 16th. Ocon came in at the end of lap one for fresh hard tires, as part of a planned aggressive strategy, but his race unfortunately came to a premature conclusion on lap 29 due to a technical issue.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team maintains sixth position in the Constructors' Championship, on 20 points.
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "Obviously it was a very tough day. Starting from P18 and P19, we had to try something different. We did that with Esteban by pitting him on lap one - it nearly worked, but in the end he had a PU issue and he had to retire. On Ollie's side - he had pace. He spent most of his first stint behind the traffic with Colapinto, but as soon as Colapinto pitted, Ollie's pace was really good - so we were going for a one-stop then. We pitted under the virtual safety car, but then we had an issue with the pit stop and that killed his race. But again, after the safety car cleared, Ollie's pace on his last stint was amazing - it was really good. Even after the last safety car, his pace was very strong on an old set of hard tires. The positive is that the car had pace to score points. It's another missed opportunity though, that's the negative. We need to put this right."
James Vowles, Team Principal: Really great result for the team today with another double points finish, and yet there is still some disappointment as there was more available to us. But we've been fast all year long and we are progressing relative to some giants; we were running on genuine merit up in a podium position. Alex executed an absolutely mega drive. I was on the edge of my seat watching him fighting against the Ferraris. He came off on the worst end, although he did get ahead of one of them by the end. I'm proud of what he's achieved and how he raced today. It's a shame with Carlos; it was a very tricky call in the beginning and we didn't get it right, but it will be his day and we will get him up into the right positions - we win and lose together.
Max Verstappen added another gem to his already extensive collection. The four-time world champion took a brilliant win, his fourth in a row in Imola, something no other driver has managed at this track. The Dutchman's 65th win was the ideal way for his Red Bull Racing team to celebrate its 400th Grand Prix, to which Max also added the team's 100th fastest race lap.
Joining him on the podium were the McLaren duo of Lando Norris, second and pole sitter Oscar Piastri in third spot.
As expected, the Hard and Medium tyres were the only two compounds used in the race. For the start, five drivers - Hamilton (Ferrari), Tsunoda (Red Bull), Antonelli (Mercedes), Bearman (Haas) and Hulkenberg (Sauber) - chose the C4 for the opening stint, with all the others going with the C5.
The Hard completed 812 laps (67.39%) and the Medium did 393 (32.61%). The longest stint on both compounds was 34 laps with Russell, Alonso, Gasly, Leclerc, Lawson and Sainz doing so on the C4, while Tsunoda and Hulkenberg went the same distance on the C5.
Of the drivers who finished, two made just one stop - Tsunoda and Hulkenberg, while Bortoleto pitted three times. The others all stopped twice, on at least one occasion making the most of a Safety Car period.
Mario Isola: "An exciting incident-packed race brought a very busy weekend to a close, which for us featured the outright debut of the new C6 compound. Now, it will be important to analyse all the data from these three days thoroughly, as it should provide useful insights for coming races, especially in terms of tyre compound allocation for races in the second half of the season.
"What we can say right now is that the decision to go with a trio of compounds one step softer than last year proved to be the right one. If we look at the first part of the race, as the second was affected by neutralisations, we saw that in a situation where all the drivers were managing their pace in the opening stint, it only required one of them to make an unexpected move - in this case Leclerc pitting early on lap 10 - to trigger changes in strategy. Some chose to extend the first stint as much as possible, obviously going for a one-stop race, while others realised that the Ferrari driver's undercut worked very well and were forced to react. In fact, on fresh tyres and with a clear track ahead of him, Leclerc made up a lot of places.
"Of course, what happened in the second part of the race makes it hard to know for certain to what extent such an early pit stop would have paid off, or if the move would have forced those who did so into switching to a two-stop strategy. It means that, in general, the decision to go with softer tyres still opened the door to more choices, both in terms of the number of stops and the length of the stints."
