Edd Straw’s verdict on the Formula 1 field’s Imola performances includes a very nearly perfect score at one end of the scale, and some painfully low numbers for drivers who threw opportunities away.
We think you might find plenty of talking points in this one – and as ever you can put those to Edd in the live reader debate in the article’s comments section at 5.30pm UK time today.
Started: 2nd Finished: 1st
Qualifying
Practice laps: 46
Gap to team-mate: +0.097s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.124s
Had Hamilton combined his best three sectors he would have taken pole position by 0.027s. It was the middle sector that cost him most, with time lost off Villeneuve and through Tosa, and then a slow run off Acque Minerale contributing to a deficit in the final sector too. In the ultra-close battle with Bottas, he couldn’t quite nail it.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 1
2 stops – medium/hard/soft
A touch of wheelspin that set in just after the initial launch allowed Verstappen to get ahead but Hamilton did a good job to ensure Ricciardo didn’t also get past.
The path to the front was opened by Verstappen’s failed attempt to undercut the hobbled Bottas, but Hamilton still did a fine job in the first stint to open up a 28.4s advantage at the point the VSC was deployed. He pitted, retained the lead and was never threatened.
VERDICT: Not his best weekend, but drove a fine race to press home the advantage luck gave him.
Started: 1st Finished: 2nd
Qualifying
Practice laps: 47
Gap to team-mate: -0.097s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.014s
Bottas was at risk of another Q3 heartbreak having set the pace in the first two segments of qualifying then slipped to second on the first Q3 runs thanks to time lost through the Rivazzas.
But he bounced back on the second run to take pole position by a tenth of a second on a day where he did look marginally the more confident Mercedes driver.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
2 stops – medium/hard/soft
Bottas held the lead at the start and was in the box seat, only to sustain damage when he collected Vettel’s broken endplate at Tosa on lap two and lost 50 points of downforce – an estimated 0.7-0.8s per lap.
He was hobbled thereafter and although he held off Verstappen through the first stint and then 23 laps in the second, he lost second after locking up and running wide at Rivazza 1, a problem corner for him even before picking up the damage, which allowed Verstappen to latch onto him and pass in the DRS zone on start/finish. That would’ve consigned him to third without Verstappen’s subsequent drama.
VERDICT: Nailed qualifying and, Rivazza errors aside, did a great job carrying damage that cost him his victory shot.
Started: 15th Finished: 12th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 40
Gap to team-mate: +0.368s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.209s
It was the usual story for Vettel in qualifying as he couldn’t match Leclerc’s confidence on corner entry. But even so, he had the pace in him to be at least a place higher but he ran just wide off Variante Alta and had a time good enough for 13th deleted. That dropped him behind Russell.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
2 stops – medium/hard/soft
The first nine corners of the race went badly, as he was strangely conservative into Tamburello and lost two places, then had a couple of lock-ups at Villeneuve that let Magnussen past.
He attempted to repass the Haas on the inside of Tosa and understeered into it, spinning Magnussen and then being passed by Giovinazzi into Piratella.
Initially running 15th, he went for a long first stint and was on course to come out between the two McLarens only for a problem with the front right to cost around 11 seconds.
Vettel rejoined 14th and soon passed Giovinazzi using the DRS. He might still have nicked a point but decided to make a second stop under the late safety car and dropped behind Giovinazzi and Latifi.
VERDICT: Qualifying was, as usual, so-so and the first lap was poor, but after that he drove well.
Started: 7th Finished: 5th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 41
Gap to team-mate: -0.368s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.000s
While his position wasn’t as eye-catching as in the previous two races, this was another excellent qualifying performance in a limited car from Leclerc. Again, he was well clear of team-mate Vettel and, along with Ricciardo and Verstappen, was one of only three to string together his theoretical ideal lap.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 1
1 stop – soft/hard
Leclerc passed Albon for sixth on the run to Tamburello on the first lap, and that became fifth when Gasly retired. After starting on softs, Ferrari called him in after 13 laps in a failed attempt to undercut Ricciardo.
He took the restart fourth having opted to stay out under the late safety car but ran wide at Tosa on the restart lap, which allowed Kvyat to drag past him on the approach to Piratella.
VERDICT: Aced qualifying again and drove a strong race, but perhaps could have kept Kvyat behind despite his tyre warm-up struggle.
Started: 3rd Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Practice laps: 39
Gap to team-mate: -0.396s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.000s
Third place is very much the same old story for Verstappen, but given the car doesn’t have the pace of the Mercedes he extracted what he could with it.
It wasn’t straightforward either, as a misfire on his first Q2 run meant he had to nail a decent time on the second run to ensure he reached Q3.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 1
1 stop – medium/hard/retired
Verstappen got ahead of Hamilton on the run to Tamburello at the start then launched an undercut attack on Bottas by stopping after 18 laps.
This didn’t work but he eventually passed Bottas using the DRS on lap 43, by which time they had both been jumped by Hamilton.
With second assured, but Hamilton out of reach, his right-rear tyre let go and pitched him off at Villeneuve.
VERDICT: Other than passing Bottas earlier, not easy at Imola, there was little more he could have done.
Started: 6th Finished: 15th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 41
Gap to team-mate: +0.396s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.047s
While Albon didn’t have the smoothest run through qualifying, with a spin after carrying too much speed into Variante Alta in Q2 while failing to make it through on mediums then the deletion of his first Q3 run.
But he put together a decent lap for his smallest time deficit to Verstappen in five races – albeit still four tenths – with a little time given away off Acque Minerale and through the Rivazzas.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 1
2 stops – soft/hard/soft
Albon slipped to seventh after being passed by Leclerc on the run to Tamburello at the start and was still behind the Ferrari when the safety car was deployed.
Wheelspin off Rivazza 2 allowed Kvyat to pass him and Perez at the restart before the Racing Point driver went around the outside of his timid defence into Villeneuve. He spun getting on the power at the exit, dropping him to the back.
VERDICT: Qualifying was a slight improvement and much of the race was decent enough, but the so-so restart and spin left him with nothing.
Started: 9th Finished: 8th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 45
Gap to team-mate: -0.097s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.152s
Norris reckoned he could perhaps have qualified one place higher, with the middle sector the main area of time loss through Villeneuve/Tosa then Variante Alta – although he also struggled to get the nose in at Rivazza 2. But it was a solid enough lap that put him ahead of his team-mate Sainz.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
2 stops – soft/medium/soft
He held ninth for the early laps before being passed by team-mate Sainz on the outside into Tamburello. Norris was then ninth when the safety car was deployed thanks to being leapfrogged by Perez but benefitting from Verstappen’s retirement.
But after initially staying out, which would have allowed him to restart sixth, he stopped – something he was keen on – and dropped back to ninth.
VERDICT: Marginally ahead of his team-mate on Saturday, marginally behind on Sunday. A decent weekend’s work.
Started: 10th Finished: 7th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 42
Gap to team-mate: +0.097s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.076s
Sainz only had one set of softs for Q3 thanks to a “scruffy” first run in Q1. Given both McLaren drivers were puzzled by the fact the car had lost pace relative to its direct rivals it was no surprise to see him 10th and one-tenth off Norris.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
2 stops – soft/medium/soft
Sainz passed Norris on the first lap before being temporarily repassed, then made ninth place for the longer-term when he used the DRS to get back around the sister car on lap six.
He stayed pretty much in this position in the queue having been among the earlier stoppers, picking up places to Gasly and Verstappen’s demises but losing a place to Perez’s long first stint.
VERDICT: Marginally behind his team-mate on Saturday, marginally ahead on Sunday. A decent weekend’s work. (Just like Norris’s.)
Started: 5th Finished: 3rd
Qualifying
Practice laps: 32
Gap to team-mate: -0.248s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.000s
Ricciardo flirted with disaster in Q1 and had to rely on his final lap to set a time good enough for Q2, but got stronger thereafter.
One of only three drivers to string together their theoretical ideal lap, his final Q3 effort was stunning – doubly so given he had only one set of fresh softs.
Ricciardo himself reckoned it was his best of the season – with the pace carried through Tamburello mighty and worth a couple of tenths of his gain.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 1
1 stop – soft/hard
Ricciardo was already in with a shout of passing Gasly on the first lap when the AlphaTauri driver had to back out after being squeezed by Hamilton. That meant the Renault ran fourth in the first stint.
He stopped on lap 14 to cover Leclerc’s undercut attack and was jumped by Perez’s opposite strategy, which meant he was fifth when Verstappen went off.
That, combined with staying out while Perez pitted under the safety car, gave him third place and he did an excellent job on aged hards to keep Kvyat at bay.
VERDICT: Magnificent in Q3 and couldn’t have done more in the race.
Started: 12th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Practice laps: 44
Gap to team-mate: +0.248s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.057s
Having not been so far off Ricciardo through the first half of qualifying, Ocon was unable to join him in Q3.
He was disappointed not to progress, but couldn’t quite carry the same speed Ricciardo did and was fractionally slow off Rivazza 2 starting his final lap, albeit not losing so much time that it really cost him a place.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
1 stop – medium/hard/retired
Ocon held 12th at the start but was undercut by Russell and still behind the Williams when his gearbox gave out on lap 27.
At that point, he was on course to finish behind the McLarens and Russell but ahead of the Alfa Romeos.
VERDICT: Couldn’t find that extra level of pace Ricciardo did, making it a solid but unspectacular weekend.
Started: 4th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Practice laps: 46
Gap to team-mate: -0.194s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.072s
Gasly matched his career-best qualifying result with fourth with an excellent run throughout qualifying and headed the midfield pack.
His Q3 lap wasn’t perfect and he perhaps gave away a little time on the run off Piratella and through Acque Minerale but he had enough in hand to stay as best of the rest.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 1
Retired early – soft
Gasly slipped to fifth behind Ricciardo on the opening lap, but largely because he had to back off when Hamilton moved over on him on the run to Tamburello.
Unfortunately, a coolant leak soon manifested itself and he retired after just eight laps – losing a big points haul.
VERDICT: Had 0.2s on pace in hand over his team-mate in qualifying and only circumstances cost him a place on the first lap before his early retirement.
Started: 8th Finished: 4th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 47
Gap to team-mate: +0.194s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.063s
Kvyat made it to Q3 for the first time since the Mexican Grand Prix almost exactly a year earlier with a strong run through qualifying.
While he did flirt with being eliminated in Q2 and was only three-hundredths from the drop, he put together a decent lap in Q3 with a time close to his average deficit to Gasly.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
2 stops – soft/hard/soft
Kvyat held eighth on the first lap and responded to Norris’s undercut attempt by pitting for hards on lap 14 and holding position. He was called into the pits for softs under the late-race safety car while running seventh and rejoined without losing a place.
A superb restart lap, squeezing past Perez and Albon on the run to Tamburello and then dispatching Leclerc on the run to Piratella, netted him fourth place and he menaced Ricciardo to the finish.
VERDICT: Three places gained at the restart elevates what was otherwise a good, but not great, drive.
Started: 11th Finished: 6th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 42
Gap to team-mate: -0.433s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.026s
Perez was much more at ease with the Racing Point than Stroll and was the faster of the team’s drivers for the ninth consecutive race (a spell that includes Nico Hulkenberg’s Nurburgring appearance).
The Racing Point wasn’t at its best, but time lost in the first sector primarily through Villeneuve potentially prevented Perez sneaking into Q3.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
2 stops – medium/hard/soft
Perez held 11th early on but moved into the top 10 when Gasly retired. As the best-placed medium-starter in the midfield group, he ran long to lap 27 in a car set up with long-run pace as the focus and consequently vaulted Ricciardo, Leclerc, Albon, Kvyat and both McLarens.
When Verstappen retired, that gave Perez third place but the decision to stop under the safety car was a costly one. He took the restart sixth, passing Albon but being jumped by Kvyat.
VERDICT: Couldn’t get the best out of the car in qualifying but drove a fine race, although he made no net gain after the restart.
Started: 15th Finished: 13th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 42
Gap to team-mate: +0.433s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.027s
Stroll never seemed to have it hooked up around Imola and was visibly more hesitant on corner entry than his team-mate Perez, having rolled back on part of the team’s recent suspension upgrade in an attempt to build more confidence at corner entry.
While he had his final lap in Q2 deleted for a track limits violation, it was significantly slower than his best and he never looked like doing better than 15th.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 4
3 stops – medium/hard/medium/soft
Stroll damaged his front wing when he hit Ocon on the first lap, clattered his front jack man after misjudging his braking at a pitstop and was unable to make any progress having dropped to the back.
Passing Magnussen using the DRS shortly before the Haas driver retired was the one highlight, although he did also gain from Albon’s spin and Grosjean’s track limits penalty to take 13th.
VERDICT: Seems all at sea, with his struggle for pace compounded by incidents.
Started: 18th Finished: 9th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 43
Gap to team-mate: -0.255s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.263s
Raikkonen set a time good enough for Q2 before it was deleted for exceeding track limits out of Variante Alta by what was measured at around 20cm, possibly as he was unaware the limit was denoted by the red/white/green section of the exit kerb. This followed losing his best first-run time for understeering wide at Piratella.
There was pace in there, with the speed carried through Villeneuve on that final lap impressive, but he didn’t make the most of it.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 2
1 stop – medium/soft
Raikkonen ran 16th on the opening lap, which became 15th when Gasly retired. His 48-lap opening stint on mediums, longer than anyone, allowed him to rise to fourth temporarily and jump Vettel and Giovinazzi.
The retirements of Russell, Ocon and Verstappen – along with Albon’s spin, added up to ninth place.
VERDICT: Underachieved in qualifying, but drove a good race to the best possible result.
Started: 20th Finished: 10th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 33
Gap to team-mate: +0.255s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.189s
Giovinazzi celebrated the announcement that he will remain at Alfa Romeo next year with a poor qualifying performance, struggling to string together laps.
Traffic – on the run to Acque Minerale that he seemed distracted by for the entry even though he’d cleared the car – was one of the things blamed in the team’s press release, but Giovinazzi’s own summary that the lap was bad – only in more colourful language – was perhaps more accurate.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 6
1 stop – soft/medium
Giovinazzi used the soft-tyre grip to jump Latifi immediately and gained places thanks to Stroll and Grosjean’s offs and Magnussen being spun (which also delayed Raikkonen) before diving up the inside of Vettel into Piratella.
That brought him up to 14th place and although he lost out to Raikkonen and Vettel’s long-run strategies, retirements and staying out under the safety car – combined with Albon’s spin – added up to 10th place.
VERDICT: Qualifying was poor but he drove a solid race, with his first lap pass on Vettel the highlight.
Started: 17th Finished: 13th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 42
Gap to team-mate: -0.021s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.053s
With the ride-height variance issue that he struggled particularly badly with in Portugal mitigated after a problem with under-cooling was found on his car, Grosjean was very happy with what he called a “mega” lap. But he was less impressed when informed it wasn’t good enough for Q2.
He prevailed in the intra-team qualifying battle although he perhaps was marginally the slower in underlying pace and appeared to struggle a little getting the car turned in, which particularly inhibited his entry speed at Acque Minerale.
Race
Penalties: +5s (track limits)
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 1
2 stops – medium/hard/soft
Grosjean 17th between Raikkonen and Latifi in the first stint after a brief bite of the gravel on the opening lap but rolled the dice on an early stop to capitalise on clear air despite braking concerns.
The gamble didn’t pay off and he ended up being jumped by Latifi so took the late-race restart 13th. He moved up to 12th when Albon spun and tried to pass Latifi in Tamburello – feeling the Williams driver had been too robust in his defence even though the stewards didn’t agree.
The inevitable 5s penalty for exceeding track limits dropped him behind Vettel and Stroll in the final results.
VERDICT: Did what he could with limited machinery but couldn’t capitalise on the retirements ahead and lost what he did gain to the penalty.
Started: 17th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Practice laps: 45
Gap to team-mate: +0.021s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.094s
Magnussen potentially had the edge on Grosjean in terms of pace but Q1 didn’t run entirely smoothly, with the loss of gearshift synch at one stage putting him in a slower-shift mode and then an off on his final lap while trying to carry more speed through Rivazza 2 in the knowledge that he had lost time in sector 2 costing him.
With a perfect lap, maybe he might have sneaked into Q2 but he also lost time off Villeneuve and through Tosa on his best one.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: DOWN 3
1 stop – medium/hard
Magnussen’s race was ruined before it really got going, as he lost seamless shift and being tipped into a spin by Vettel at Tosa on the first lap. This left him 10 seconds off the back and with the savage gearshifts jolting him around, he suffered a worsening headache.
The team eventually called him in to retire despite his willingness to battle on.
VERDICT: Nothing went right despite Magnussen driving well and showing good underlying pace.
Started: 19th Finished: 11th
Qualifying
Practice laps: 29
Gap to team-mate: +0.227s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.089s
A brake-by-wire problem compromised practice and ruined his quali sim, but he did a better job in Q1 than his grid position suggests.
He set his best lap on the first attempt of the second run, but was on course for a laptime that would have put him nip and tuck with Stroll to make Q2 on the final attempt only to lose time through the middle sector, particularly through Acque Minerale and by running wide out of Variante Alta. He ultimately didn’t improve.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: UP 1
1 stop – medium/hard
Latifi made a one-stop strategy work to finish 11th having gained a place on Vettel when the Ferrari pitted under the safety car after earlier jumping past Grosjean by running longer.
He briefly nosed ahead of Giovinazzi on the run to Tamburello on the first lap after the restart but couldn’t make the move, which would have given him a first point, stick. He also did a good job to hold off Grosjean at Tamburello – although the Haas driver felt Latifi’s defence was too robust.
VERDICT: Not as fast as his team-mate in qualifying but drove a decent race that almost netted a point.
Started: 13th Finished: DNF
Qualifying
Practice laps: 43
Gap to team-mate: -0.227s
Gap to ‘ideal’ lap: +0.012s
Although Russell wasn’t delighted with his Q1 lap, he managed to make Q2 for the eighth time this year.
With two sets of softs available, he was able to have two serious attempts in the second stage of qualifying and made superb use of them.
He laid it on the line on the final lap to beat Vettel and Stroll with slight understeer at Tosa and wobbles at the exit of Variante Alta and Rivazza 2 not costing significant time.
Race
Penalties: –
Positions gained/lost lap 1: NONE
1 stop – medium/hard
Russell held 13th at the start but opted for an early stop to capitalise on some clear air, which allowed him to jump Ocon. This added up to 10th place with a serious crack at a points finish provided he could hold off Raikkonen, on relatively fresh softs, at the restarts on aged hards.
But he never got that far as he crashed trying to warm the tyres under the safety car on the run to Acque Minerale.
VERDICT: So much good catastrophically undone by one “amateur” moment of bad.
