A return to the Imola Circuit for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix may have been unable to produce a modern classic in Sunday’s race, but certainly challenged the entire grid.
Ultimately, it was Max Verstappen who prevailed for the 59th time in his F1 career, edging the chasing McLaren of Lando Norris to the line to deny the Briton consecutive victories.
While there were some signs of convergence amongst the front-running teams, several veteran drivers including Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez struggled to get on top of their weekends.
So, who excelled in the first European round of the season and who leaves Emilia Romagna under pressure?
Max Verstappen: 9.5
Qualified: P1, Race: P1
Throughout practice, Red Bull and Max Verstappen appeared on the back foot. Unable to get the RB20 in the right window, rival teams knew there was a real opportunity to keep the Dutchman off the top step for a second race weekend running.
McLaren looked to have the advantage in both single-lap and race performance, however, that was no answer for the expertise of the three-time World Champion.
Having clinched pole position by the narrowest of margins, Verstappen built an early lead but was kept honest for the entire race distance. With Norris closing in the latter stages, the Dutchman eeked out the remaining performance from his tyres to keep the Briton at bay and to take victory by just seven-tenths of a second.
Sergio Perez: 5
Qualified: P11, Race: P8
While Verstappen was able to course-correct Red Bull’s weekend in Imola, the same cannot be said about team-mate Sergio Perez.
A crash at Variante Alta in FP3 saw the Mexican miss out on some much-needed practice before suffering a shock Q2 exit after using two sets of Soft tyres to avoid a Q1 dumping.
The race was not much better for Perez who again let mistakes creep in during the opening stint with a trip through the gravel at Rivazza 1.
His attempted charge through the field would only reach as far as eighth place at the flag in a lacklustre weekend for Perez.
Lando Norris: 9.5
Qualified: P3 (Started P2), Race: P2
Off the back of a maiden Grand Prix victory in Miami last time out, McLaren returned to Imola as favourites to challenge championship leaders Red Bull for the win.
Oscar Piastri marginally bettered Norris in qualifying, but a grid drop for the young Aussie promoted Norris to a front-row start.
McLaren and Norris had no response to the pace of Verstappen in the early stages of the race, but the newest F1 race winner was able to dig deep in the latter tranche to chip away at the Dutchman’s lead to come close, but not quite close enough, to a second consecutive win.
Oscar Piastri: 9
Qualified: P2 (Started P5), Race: P4
Oscar Piastri was the faster of the two McLaren drivers in Imola, threatening Verstappen for pole position on Saturday. However, it was McLaren’s pit wall that cost the sophomore a shot at victory on Sunday owing to a grid drop for impeding in qualifying following a late radio warning.
With overtaking opportunities hard to come by in Imola, track position dictated the action’s course on Sunday. Having placed Carlos Sainz under pressure, Piastri was able to undercut the Spaniard in the pits before getting caught behind Charles Leclerc.
Despite the qualifying infraction, it was still a highly positive weekend for Piastri whose performance ought to merit a podium, or more, last weekend.
Charles Leclerc: 9
Qualified: P4 (Started P3), Race: P3
Charles Leclerc was boosted to third on the grid following the application of Piastri’s grid penalty, offering Ferrari the chance to snatch a podium from the stronger McLaren.
Despite possessing the third-fastest package in Imola, the Monegasque driver was able to get the most from the Ferrari to maintain track position and outclass and out-perform team-mate Carlos Sainz. Finishing just seven-seconds behind race winner Verstappen despite a clear disadvantage provides promise for the upcoming rounds.
Carlos Sainz: 7
Qualified: P5 (Started P4), Race: P5
Carlos Sainz’s fast start to the 2024 campaign appears to have fizzled out, with the Spaniard branding Imola a race of damage limitation.
The outbound Ferrari driver was always a step behind Leclerc and struggled to keep in touching distance of his team-mate ahead of the first pit stop, falling into the clutches of Piastri. While able to keep the position on track, he would lose it in the pits as McLaren opted for the undercut.
Lewis Hamilton: 7
Qualified: P8, Race: P6
Once again, Lewis Hamilton found himself behind George Russell in qualifying trim, but the seven-time champion enjoyed a better race day despite an off-track excursion at Acqua Minerale.
Hamilton was quick to pass Yuki Tsunoda at the start and a longer opening stint helped him jump team-mate Russell who made a second stop to protect position against Sergio Perez.
George Russell: 7.5
Qualified: P6, Race: P7
Understandably, George Russell was frustrated to have fallen behind Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Sunday’s race.
The Briton had the upper hand over the multiple world champion throughout the weekend, but when it came down to it, Russell was Mercedes’ best tool to protect a solid points haul.
A six-lap tyre offset meant that Mercedes could have fallen vulnerable to Perez in the latter stages, leading to a second stop for Russell to keep Perez at bay. Frustrating for George, but the best outcome for the team.
Lance Stroll: 7.5
Qualified: P13, Race: P9
Upgrades are yet to provide a boost to Aston Martin’s performance in 2024, meaning that Stroll’s P13 in qualifying was as high as the team could have expected to be placed on the grid for Sunday following struggles on the opposite side of the garage.
An inverse strategy helped the Canadian to break his way into the points despite contact on the opening lap at Tosa.
Fernando Alonso: 4
Qualified: P19 (Started: Pits), Race: P19
Fernando Alonso endured a rare weekend to forget in Imola where, frankly, almost everything that could have gone wrong did.
Scruffy practice sessions culminated in a crash in FP3 before again finding himself off track at Tamburello in Q1. The Spaniard was unable to find improvements and missed out on a final attempt after running low on fuel.
The race therefore became a test session for Alonso who was unable to make forwards progress through the field, save for jumping Logan Sargeant with an undercut only to retire in the final few laps.
Yuki Tsunoda: 8
Qualified: P7, Race: P10
Yuki Tsunoda and RB enjoyed a brilliant home race weekend for the Faenza-based squad, despite Tsunoda feeling somewhat disappointed with his P7 in qualifying.
A poor start saw him knocked back a couple of places before the first corner, but he and the team did well to recover a position from Hulkenberg through strategy. Despite losing places to those overcutting on the alternate strategy, it was still a strong weekend and a very important point secured for RB.
Daniel Ricciardo: 6.5
Qualified: P9, Race: P13
Daniel Ricciardo was able to join his team-mate in Q3, although a couple of tenths adrift of Tsunoda’s pace. Ricciardo too dropped two places off the line after a poor start, confronting the Aussie with a tough task to recover points.
He too lost ground to the overcutting Stroll before dropping a place to Kevin Magnussen on the final lap.
A respectable drive, but lacked the sharpness of that of his team-mate.
Nico Hulkenberg: 8
Qualified: P10, Race: P11
Yet another blinding qualifying session from the veteran Hulkenberg saw Haas an unlikely Q3 advancement last weekend. Hulkenberg ran as high as eighth in the early stages and ended up heading a train in his out-positioned VF-24.
However, Hulkenberg did well to hold position through his consistency, only dropping three through strategy to conclude a very strong weekend.
Kevin Magnussen: 7
Qualified: P18, Race: P12Kevin Magnussen faced a compromised race on Sunday having sat out for Ollie Bearman in FP1 and seeing his qualifying lap ruined after being impeded by Oscar Piastri at Tamburello.
However, the Dane battled from a lowly grid spot to climb the order and finish a highly respectable 12th.
Esteban Ocon: 6.5
Qualified: P12, Race: P14
Another strong qualifying performance for Alpine and Ocon, however, a straight-line deficit would make things tough on Sunday.
Despite the limitations of the Alpine, Esteban delivered a commendable race to hold 14th ahead of team-mate Gasly.
Pierre Gasly: 6
Qualified: P15, Race: P16
Pierre Gasly demonstrated good pace in Imola but was unable to put it all together in qualifying and resigned to 15th on the grid.
A lack of safety car interference and a bold two-stop strategy failed to vault the Frenchman up the field despite the apparent pace.
Guanyu Zhou: 6
Qualified: P17, Race: P15
Points continue to look far off for Sauber with Both of its drivers well off the pace in qualifying at Imola, and Zhou two-tenths slower than team-mate Valtteri Bottas to boot.
All was not lost for Zhou, though, who was able to utilise the alternate strategy to pick up a couple of places on Sunday.
Valtteri Bottas: 6
Qualified: P16, Race: P18
While stronger than Zhou, Bottas’ weekend remained fairly anonymous. An early pit stop left him vulnerable towards the end of the race, seeing him drop down the order to P18.
Logan Sargeant: 5
Qualified: P20 (Started P19), Race: P17
With Sargeant’s future at Williams facing increasing scrutiny from all, Imola didn’t exactly inspire much hope.
He failed to set a valid lap time in qualifying and with team-mate Alex Albon’s race undone at the first stop, Logan was unable to pick-up the baton for Williams.
Alex Albon: 6
Qualified: P14 , Race: DNF
Last week it was announced that Alex Albon has extended his stay at Williams but it has been a tough weekend since for the Anglo-Thai driver.
An issue on Friday saw him miss out on running in FP1 and a lack of grip in qualifying resulted in a mid-order start. His race was effectively ended at the first stop when the front-right wheel was not attached correctly, leaving Albon to trundle around to get the issue resolved.
From then, Sunday became a test session before an early finish with the car withdrawn later on.
