Ryan Pierse/Getty Images


By Chris Medland - May 18, 2025, 2:42 PM EDT

Imola delivers in spades on what could be its finale.

Remember Sebring Florida? They held the last ever 12 Hour race for over 20 years....

I’ve got to admit to having a bit of a love-hate relationship with Imola. The circuit facilities, the dodgy parking if it rains, and the horrific traffic can all be sources of frustration, but they are offset by one of the coolest tracks on the calendar....and if I don't say that about this place they will pull my press pass and I will have to watch stock car racing where 43 teans compete simultaneously on the same track at the same time while teenage women bang rednecks in the back of an inield pickup truck which sometimes becomes a nude swimming pool with a big tarp and a long garden hose.
Well now that I think about it.........

A place steeped in history, yes, but it’s also just a beautiful setting, draped on a hillside next to a river within a gorgeous Italian town, and it challenges drivers.

The bumps hurt their backs, the curbs unsettle their cars, and the runoff areas are not runoff areas but punishing grass and gravel traps that mean you will not get away with an error without losing a significant amount of time (if not a number of your components).

Unforgiving – something setting Imola apart from most, if not all. Lars Baron/Getty Images

I got to enjoy many of the good parts this week – aside from the incredible local food and atmosphere – and none of the bad, but there was also one unexpected negative that proved to be unfounded this time around, too. As I walked from the parking lot to where I could watch the race a string of women yelled out "Quickie $5". Once I got to the track, I asked the nun beside me: "What's a quickie?"
She smiles and says: "$5. Same as in the parking lot."

While it’s epic to watch drivers pushing the limits in qualifying, unable to make even the smallest mistake without seeing lap time suffer markedly, they’re usually having to take risks because the track is so tough to overtake on. The bypassing of the old final chicane – the Variante Bassa – allowed the inclusion of a long DRS zone on the pit straight to Tamburello that was always set up for passing, but it seemed to rarely create brilliant racing unless the weather intervened.

This time around, a combination of retirements (perhaps track-specific as both Kimi Antonelli and Esteban Ocon stopped with similar-looking issues after losing drive out of the Villeneuve chicane) and tire choices created variation in strategy and meant cars could have wider performance differences at certain times of the race. The result was a grand prix with plenty of action, even if Max Verstappen effectively checked out at the front and never really looked under threat for the victory despite the safety car and virtual safety car interruptions.

So what’s different compared to previous races? Nothing, really. Some might have you believe dirty air has even made it harder to follow (although I maintain that’s because cars are so closely-matched that the same amount of dirty air just has a proportionally greater impact), but it’s mainly down to circumstance.

The grid order, the tires, the interruptions to the race, the timing of pit stops as a result – these are all things that have very little to do with the circuit itself. Many of those variables need to align in some form to create on-track action, otherwise even the track that encourages the best racing will see a procession if cars line up in grid order and advance through the race without trouble or error.

Monaco is a unique case, but many of the rest of the venues on the calendar perhaps should be given a little more credit that they can produce a good race even without rain, and that track layout isn’t the only factor.

This means there is very much a place for the old-school circuits in modern day Formula 1, if the financial aspects can also be worked out.

Imola has just hosted the final event of its current contract, and the expectation is there won’t be another one agreed for 2026 onwards. Or if there is, that it will be on a rotational basis.

The drivers were asked about it a lot over the weekend, and naturally the winner of the last four races held there will be sorry to see it go.

The Italian countryside is irreplaceable and unique, even alongside Monza. Few disagree, but people are not necessarily the purse strings. Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

“Losing these kind of tracks is a shame,” Verstappen said. “I get it from F1’s side of things, of course – the new tracks that we are going to. You have to see it from a sporting side and a financial side, right? If you want to grow the business and make it more popular, I get it.

“For me, of course, personally, when I just speak about the enjoyment of driving, it’s these kind of tracks that made me fall in love with racing in general – in go-karting, even, because you have the same thing in karting where some tracks are more special than others.

“Then when you started watching Formula 1, there were always these few tracks where you just – I don’t know, you look at the speeds, you look at how difficult they are to master. The history of the sport at certain tracks, it’s all very special and gives you a bit more emotion to things. It’s definitely a shame for me, personally, but what can I do about it?”

Not much, Max, but it’s always nice to hear when drivers have similar comments to many fans when it comes to favorite circuits, even if they don’t get a say in the decisions made over where the sport goes racing.

Decisions are so rarely final, either. Imola is a venue that hosted races until 2006 before disappearing from the schedule, with its return amid the COVID pandemic allowed it the chance to put together a business plan that made enough sense for both the region and F1.

For all the romance in Verstappen’s comments, it’s also refreshing to hear a bit of sensible appreciation that decisions are not solely made on how iconic or cool a track is. F1 is still a business and needs to balance its history with its future.

If that balance can be found with Imola to keep it on the calendar, then you won’t have many fans or drivers complaining. But if not, then it has just signed off with a highly entertaining weekend.
Just like Sebring did for over 20 years.

 

Mark Thompson/Getty Images Why is that guy on the right wearing women's shoes and a short skirt? Is he the team mama?

"Pizza Boy" Piastri calling for McLaren to learn lessons from Imola's 'wrong calls' Dammit.

I wish they would quit using Verizon and go back to AT&T!

The phone rings during the race and it's some street turkey setting up a conference call with some biker drug dealers and using up my minutes.

Hello is this AT&T?

Oscar Piastri believes McLaren made some wrong decisions during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that he wants the team to learn from.

Championship-leader Piastri started on pole position but was overtaken by Max Verstappen at Turn 1, and then made an early first pit stop in an attempt to undercut the Red Bull. Verstappen stayed out, as did Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris, and their tire performance improved before two race interruptions allowed extra pit stops and saw Piastri limited to third at the checkered flag.

“Slight disappointment, probably,” Piastri said of his result. “It's never a great day when you start first and finish third, so just not a great day. I think Turn 1 was not ideal. In the end, our stop timing wasn't… I think the race panned out differently to how we expected at the start of the first stint.

“The timing of the VSC and the safety car, the race was very tough from very early on. Honestly, given people had fresher tires at the end, hanging on to a podium is not a bad result. You’re going to have tough days in the championship, and this is clearly one of them. As long as we learn the lessons, then that’s all I can ask.”



Verstappen’s first-lap move came despite the Dutchman being a long way back on Piastri’s outside into the first corner, and while Piastri felt he could have braked later himself, he also expected to be able to fight back later in the race.

“I thought I had it pretty under control, and it was a good move from Max," he said. "I’ll learn for next time, clearly. But at that point, I wasn’t overly concerned to not be in the lead, but then our pace just wasn’t as strong as I expected, so that compounded that first corner.

"Just braked too early, and it was a good move by Max as well. Disappointing, obviously, but I think we made a few wrong calls after that. Not our best Sunday. Definitely a lot of things to look at and review from that one, but well done to Max and Red Bull. It was a good move, but also they had pace today. We'll look back at that one and see what we can do a bit better.”

Piastri was running second after the final safety car restart but was overtaken by teammate Norris – who made an extra pit stop – and he says he didn’t want to make life easy for his closest title challenger at this stage of the season.

“It was tricky," he said. "I tried my best to hang up from a bad call and hang on, but just didn’t have the grip. I tried my best and it was inevitable. I think it was inevitable that he was going to get past, but I wasn’t going to give up without a fight. ....or at least make it look like a fight.”

 

Imola might frustrate with its quirks, but it remains one of the most character-rich and challenging tracks in F1. Its old-school nature punishes mistakes and rewards precision—something both fans and drivers appreciate.