Emilia Romagna GP 2025: Verstappen beats both McLarens at Imola

Max Verstappen won the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola from second on the grid, 6.109 seconds ahead of Lando Norris. The race was settled on the opening lap, when he drove around the outside of polesitter Oscar Piastri into Tamburello and never handed the lead back. It was his second win of the season and it ended Piastri's run of three straight victories.

Behind him, the more telling fight happened inside the McLaren garage. Piastri started first and Norris fourth, and they finished the other way round. Lewis Hamilton climbed from 12th to fourth, his best Grand Prix finish for Ferrari so far.

How Verstappen won at Imola

Piastri took pole by 0.034s from Verstappen, with George Russell third and Norris fourth. Both Ferraris were knocked out in Q2, and Yuki Tsunoda crashed in Q1 and started from the pit lane. Piastri got away well, but Verstappen braked late on the outside and took the lead through the chicane.

McLaren then split their strategies. Piastri pitted for hards on lap 14 and dropped into traffic, while Norris ran long in clean air. On lap 29 Esteban Ocon parked his Haas on the grass at the exit of Acque Minerali, and under the virtual safety car Verstappen made a cheap stop without losing the lead. By lap 33 he was 19 seconds clear.

That cushion vanished on lap 46, when Andrea Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes stopped close to the same spot in his home race and brought out the full safety car. Verstappen and Norris pitted for fresh tyres; Piastri stayed out on hards that were 18 laps old. The restart came at the end of lap 53 and Verstappen got away cleanly to control the last ten laps.

Norris vs Piastri

This is where the McLaren duel turned. Norris closed to within a second of Piastri on newer rubber and went past him side by side into Turn 2 with five laps to go. In their head-to-head on F1 Duels, Piastri still leads 4–3 on Sundays, while Norris is 4–3 up in qualifying despite losing this pole. The early stop and the call to stay out under the safety car both cost Piastri more than Norris's pace did.

Hamilton vs Leclerc

Ferrari's home weekend started with Charles Leclerc 11th and Hamilton 12th on the grid. Hamilton passed Russell, then got ahead of Leclerc in the closing laps. Leclerc's afternoon ended in a row: on lap 60 Alexander Albon went through the gravel trying to pass him, Ferrari told Leclerc to give the place back and he finished sixth. In our count it is Hamilton's first race win over his teammate this year, which makes it 1–5.

Albon's fifth and Carlos Sainz's eighth gave Williams a solid haul. Sainz had out-qualified Albon by 0.054% of a lap, the closest gap of any pair at Imola, but the race went to Albon, who leads their Sunday duel 4–1. At Mercedes, Russell finished seventh and is 7–0 up on Antonelli in qualifying; the race duel does not count after the failure.

What it means for the title

Piastri leaves Imola on 146 points, 13 ahead of Norris, with Verstappen nine further back in third. The two McLaren drivers are as close in our duel numbers as they are in the standings. Tsunoda took the last point from the pit lane, and Verstappen stays 4–0 up on him in races.