The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was a race of rapidly-changing fortunes for many drivers as the interruptions played havoc with their strategies.

Who decided their own fate on this demanding track – and who were victims of fortune? Here’s RaceFans’ verdict on the full field:

Lando Norris

▼ Hadjar’s error didn’t help him in Q3 but real time loss on final run was later in lap
▶ Got past Russell fairly quickly early on
▶ Pace in clear air was a match for Verstappen, but pitting one lap before VSC hurt him
▲ Passed Piastri for second place with tyre advantage

7/10: Only qualifying let him down

Oscar Piastri

▲ Dodged traffic at end of Q3 to snatch pole from Verstappen
▼ Allowed Verstappen to pass him around the outside at Tamburello at the start
▶ Race was compromised by early pit stop
▶ Passed a string of cars to recover second place, but couldn’t contain Norris

6/10: Strong again in qualifying, race pace was good, shocking lack of awareness at start

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Charles Leclerc

▶ Happier with car than Hamilton after second practice
▶ Narrowly fell short of Q3 place
▲ Passed Gasly for 10th after start
▶ Early pit stop left him on compromised strategy
▶ Cynically forced Albon off when he’d lost the corner to him at Tamburello
▶ Correctly yielded place to Albon on final lap

6/10: Easy to understand his frustration with pace, strategy and luck

Lewis Hamilton

▶ Felt the team made good set-up changes and was closer to Leclerc than usual
▶ Started on harder tyres and couldn’t keep Antonelli behind on lap one
▶ Made both pit stops while race was neutralised, gaining time
▲ Passed drivers in last two stints to recover fourth place

7/10: The cards fell his way on race day and he took full advantage

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Max Verstappen

▶ Narrowly lost pole position to Piastri on final run in Q3
▲ Didn’t get off the line well but pulled off a superb pass on Piastri
▶ Controlled the race from there on

8/10: Win never looked in doubt after great first-lap pass

Yuki Tsunoda

▶ Over a second off Verstappen in final practice
▼ Crashed heavily on first run in Q1 and had to start from pits
▶ Made little progress from pit lane early on
▼ Fortunate to avoid any consequences when he clipped Sainz at Tamburello
▶ Sticking to a one-stop strategy allowed him to take final point from Hulkenberg

3/10: Compromised his race with qualifying crash and made too little progress

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Andrea Kimi Antonelli

▼ Eliminated in Q2 after finding the soft tyre tricky
▶ Picked up a place from Hamilton at the start
▼ Race pace wasn’t a match for Russell’s
▶ Retired with throttle problem

5/10: Consistently behind Russell in one of his weaker performances so far

George Russell

▲ Nicked third off Norris by switching to medium rubber for final run
▼ Had no pace at start of race on his used mediums and had to pit early
▶ Nearly crashed into Bearman when pitting under the Virtual Safety Car
▼ Dropped behind Leclerc over the course of the race

6/10: Strategy gamble exacerbated car’s poor pace in higher temperatures

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Lance Stroll

▶ Joined team mate in Q3 but qualified behind him as usual
▶ Matched Alonso’s pace for much of the race, though they were usually in traffic
▼ Made no progress on mediums in final stint
▶ Reached Q3 but set best time in Q2, 0.084s faster

7/10: A solid weekend, but compromised strategically

Fernando Alonso

▲ Exploited Aston Martin’s upgrade and used medium rubber to take fifth on the grid
▶ Ran strongly in opening stint before degradation bit
▶ Paid the price of not pitting under VSC, dropping back in following stint
▲ Pulled off three great passes at Piratella on mediums at end of race

8/10: Enormously frustrated but showed great verve in final stint

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Franco Colapinto

▼ Built up his pace over practice but crashed at the end of Q1
▼ Collected a one-place grid penalty for leaving his garage too soon
▶ Pitting shortly before VSC compromised his race
▼ Slower than Gasly at end of race on fresher rubber

4/10: Looked on the right path on Friday, then it all went wrong

Pierre Gasly

▶ Was only behind the McLaren drivers in Friday practice
▲ Grabbed a place in Q3 and qualified tenth
▼ Lost five places when he went off at Piratella on lap three while fighting Leclerc
▶ Did a decent job over long final stint but his points chance was lost
▶ Reached Q3 but set best time in Q2, 0.282s faster

5/10: Never repeated Friday’s high but strong in qualifying, then made costly error in race

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Esteban Ocon

▶ Last in both Friday practice sessions
▶ Said the team expected better performance from the car after going out in Q1
▶ Pitted at the end of lap one for hards in bold strategy move
▼ Lost places when cars emerged behind him on fresher rubber and attacked
▶ Technical problem ended his day early

5/10: Looked on course to finish well out of the points when misfortune struck

Oliver Bearman

▶ Final run in Q1 looked good enough for a place in Q2…
▶ …but the FIA ruled he crossed the finishing line under red flags, infuriating Haas
▲ Had great pace when he hit clear air from lap 24
▶ Tried an ambitious hard-medium one-stop strategy but pit stop problem ruined his day

7/10: Had good pace but was incredibly hard done by

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Isack Hadjar

▼ Spun off at the end of second practice
▲ Reached Q3 and was fifth after the first runs
▼ Fell to ninth after a mistake at Tamburello on his last run
▼ Lost places to both Ferraris at the start
▲ Made the best of a smart strategy to stay in touch with the leaders for ninth
▶ Reached Q3 but set best time in Q2, 0.236s faster

7/10: Clearly the team’s quickest driver but the car was capable of more

Liam Lawson

▶ Wasn’t able to complete his final lap in Q1 due to red flags and was eliminated
▶ Starting on mediums and pitting early was an odd call given his grid position
▶ Another driver stuck on old hard rubber at the final restart

5/10: Q1 misfortune and risky strategy added up to a fruitless weekend

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Alexander Albon

▶ Admitted he wasn’t quite as comfortable in his car as Sainz but still reached Q3
▶ Ran behind his team mate in the first stint but avoided the temptation of an early pit stop
▶ Thought he had a chance to catch Piastri at one stage
▲ Put a legitimate move on Leclerc but was forced off
▶ Couldn’t keep Hamilton behind but secured another excellent fifth

7/10: Little to choose between the Williams pair, Albon battled well at the end

Carlos Sainz Jnr

▲ Astonishing Q2 lap put him fastest, couldn’t quite repeat it in Q3 but took sixth
▶ Ran strongly at the start but admitted misgivings about the team’s early pit stop call
▲ Did well to fight his way back from there to eighth ahead of Hadjar
▶ Reached Q3 but set best time in Q2, 0.234s faster

7/10: Only the team’s strategy cost him a better result

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Nico Hulkenberg

▼ Dipped a wheel into the gravel at Rivazza which cost him a place in Q2
▲ Started on hards but gained a place from Colapinto on mediums
▶ Looked in with a chance of a point when team one-stopped him
▶ Lost out to Tsunoda’s quicker Red Bull at the finish

6/10: Somewhat unfortunate not to come away with a point

Gabriel Bortoleto

▼ Crashed in first practice
▶ Reached Q2 again, albeit under slightly fortuitous circumstances
▶ Three-stopping did not pay off as he couldn’t make progress on mediums at the end

5/10: Pace wasn’t bad but repeated dice-rolling left him last

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Over to you

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2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

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