2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Imola, May 16 - 18

[MtthsMlw]

Tyre selection
C4 - C5 - C6

2024 Results
Qualifying


Race




2024 Pole Lap
2024 Race Highlights
Schedule and more information

[selvam_e2002]

McLaren 1 and two.

[selvam_e2002]

McLaren 1 and 2

[CjC]

McLaren 1 and 2

No chance. It’s going to be rather cool weather wise, so probably going to be like Japan.
I expect a lap from Max for pole then he’ll be closely followed home

[basti313]

McLaren 1 and 2

No chance. It’s going to be rather cool weather wise, so probably going to be like Japan.
I expect a lap from Max for pole then he’ll be closely followed home

That would be really miracle...this is a track where it is super error prone to go to the absolute limit. Every inch of too late braking is not forgiven, but sends you over the high kerbs.
I think if the McL just take it easy and one of them gets a clean lap in, this is pole.

[CjC]

McLaren 1 and 2

No chance. It’s going to be rather cool weather wise, so probably going to be like Japan.
I expect a lap from Max for pole then he’ll be closely followed home

That would be really miracle...this is a track where it is super error prone to go to the absolute limit. Every inch of too late braking is not forgiven, but sends you over the high kerbs.
I think if the McL just take it easy and one of them gets a clean lap in, this is pole.

The opening of your post literally agrees with me
Max is that man who can push to that last inch though and the McLaren driver don’t seem to be able to drive a 98-99% lap to take a pole, it’s 100% or a mistake from them is the qualifying tactic

[ringo]

MAX pole position.
McLaren 1 and 2 in the race. Max and Russel skirmish and contacf fighting for 3rd.

[AR3-GP]

Lando Norris is an Imola specialist. It should be a simple pole and win for him with that car.

[univex]

Lando Norris is an Imola specialist.

Really? Out qualified last year by Piastri who was demoted 3 places due to blocking during qualifying.
Add to that his 19 laps for qualifying compared to 15 for Piastri. Lando thinks he is dominating by going out for another run to make sure his time is better than Piastri at the end of each session.

Just like Monaco, qualify P1 then hold everyone up if you want.
Only overtakes last year were with massive tyre differences, otherwise, near impossible.

[venkyhere]

It's a narrow track, so track position will be damn important.
The 'huge delta buildup' corners are the really slow ones - 7,12,17,18 and the floor destroying 14-15 chicane. Not understeering at entry/mid and mega traction at exit - is the key. A recipe tailor made for the MCL39. If they don't finish 1-2 in Q and R and win with a 30s margin, it's either some unlucky event (badly timed yellow flag / weather) or a tactical screw up. It's pretty hard for Mclaren to NOT pulverize the opposition, like in Miami.

[ringo]

Downplaying redbull's chances so early I see.
Max will pole here and Yuki land inside the top 10. Judgeing by how well RB21 looked in Miami, this should bea high chance for pole.
Race pace is another story, but with overtaking so hard and Max good at defense, he can win here like he did in suzuka.

[langedweil]

Downplaying redbull's chances so early I see.
Max will pole here and Yuki land inside the top 10. Judgeing by how well RB21 looked in Miami, this should bea high chance for pole.
Race pace is another story, but with overtaking so hard and Max good at defense, he can win here like he did in suzuka.

There is no defense possible on the straight here man ... easy DRS blast-by

[organic]

Downplaying redbull's chances so early I see.
Max will pole here and Yuki land inside the top 10. Judgeing by how well RB21 looked in Miami, this should bea high chance for pole.
Race pace is another story, but with overtaking so hard and Max good at defense, he can win here like he did in suzuka.

Why should red bull be able to win at Imola or even prevent McLaren from overtaking when mclaren simply drove past them at Miami, a circuit where only 41 overtakes happened last year in the race and 6 in the sprint (a record low for a sprint race)?

Let's not forget that Imola is a step softer this season and here they are debuting the never before seen C6 softest compound, which will shift the balance rearwards and only help McLaren

If the circuit is limited by rear thermal degradation and requiring a range of corner balance, McLaren will simply demolish the competition. The more that is the case, the more extreme it will be

[ringo]

Good point on the C6. That may exagerate the deg.

[venkyhere]

Downplaying redbull's chances so early I see.
Max will pole here and Yuki land inside the top 10. Judgeing by how well RB21 looked in Miami, this should bea high chance for pole.
Race pace is another story, but with overtaking so hard and Max good at defense, he can win here like he did in suzuka.

No, dude, it was not downplaying redbull.
In Max's hands, a driver who can come closest to the theoretically possible laptime from a car, he very well might get pole, it's no longer a surprise this season. But pole is not where the points are handed over. Given the race pace that McLaren have over others, especially in a track with lots of slow corner traction events, it's a no brainer that they have to be the favourites. Even if McLaren can't overtake from P2/P3, they can easily get to P1 with an under/over cut. This Imola race will be a 'running test' for teams like Redbull/Mercedes/Ferrari to see whether they are on the right 'fixing path' or not. All of those teams will be happy with a podium finish.