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

[Vettel165]

Yeah Mclaren will dominate Imola, the others will fight for that p3… boring.

[FittingMechanics]

McLaren also almost won last year, with Norris coming fast for Verstappen in the last stint.

Most people think new McLaren is relatively faster than last years McLaren so it should be a clear win. But, as with everything, it's one thing to be fast on paper and it is another to execute well enough to win.

[ringo]

Will Mercedes continue to be 2nd or 3rd best or will they fall back?
W16 has shown very solid performance over the season so far. A breakthrough compared to the previous GE era cars.
Williams may also continue to excell.

[r85]

Will Mercedes continue to be 2nd or 3rd best or will they fall back?
W16 has shown very solid performance over the season so far. A breakthrough compared to the previous GE era cars.
Williams may also continue to excell.

They'll keep their place if they don't get closer to McLaren this weekend. The updates are targeted at keeping the rears cool which is what Mercedes needs right now.

[univex]

All about qualifying and apparently McLaren are the ones to beat.
Lando is also apparently a specialist according to a few.
Lando has been having extra 'second' runs of late in QF especially when behind Piastri.
He was doing it last year at Imola as well with extra runs in Q1 & Q2.
Here's the McLaren QF timings from Imola 2024.

[Quantum]

Why should red bull be able to win at Imola or even prevent McLaren from overtaking when mclaren simply drove past them at Miami

The Red Bull is capable of poles.
The McLaren suffers quite clearly when following other cars.
It's a narrow track that doesn't lean well for overtaking.

[Cs98]

Why should red bull be able to win at Imola or even prevent McLaren from overtaking when mclaren simply drove past them at Miami

The Red Bull is capable of poles.
The McLaren suffers quite clearly when following other cars.
It's a narrow track that doesn't lean well for overtaking.

Theoretically possible if the deg is low, but far from a fair expectation.

[Waz]

Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc and Russell for the top 5 in that order.

Depending on the tires though. If they degrade really fast then McLaren 1 & 2, Charles 3 rd and Max out of the top 5

[Quantum]

Theoretically possible if the deg is low, but far from a fair expectation.

It's been done before this season at Japan. Lower temps granted, but the Maccas got stuck and the RB was perfectly set up. More than a few have noted Macca's being held up by slower cars.
The key was pole, managing the tyres and macca's seemingly flawless car not operating as it does in clean air.

Max has 3 poles this season (more than anyone else) and is probably the one driver you want to manage tyres/pace.
For Imola, if RB are showing a dramatic drop off during the stint practice sessions (from higher temps) then of course it would be far from fair expectation. But if they can bag pole and keep the lead to the first corner(2x if's), it's a well defined possibility around this track. Not a probability at all, as I still fancy McLaren to win. Just saying it's no big stretch to see a Max win here if all the above is considered.

[Lasssept]

Fabrega:

[ali623]

Why should red bull be able to win at Imola or even prevent McLaren from overtaking when mclaren simply drove past them at Miami

The Red Bull is capable of poles.
The McLaren suffers quite clearly when following other cars.
It's a narrow track that doesn't lean well for overtaking.

Does it? They both followed Verstappen easily before eventually overtaking in Miami.

[Matt2725]

Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc and Russell for the top 5 in that order.

Depending on the tires though. If they degrade really fast then McLaren 1 & 2, Charles 3 rd and Max out of the top 5

I don't see any scenario where Ferrari are in the running for the front row or two, in either quali or the race.
With the upgrades for Merc and RBR, the gap to Ferrari will likely increase. I have my money on Williams outqualifying one or both Ferrari cars again.

Piastri, Norris, Verstappen/Russell, Russell/Verstappen, Antonelli for the top 5 IMO.

[Quantum]

Why should red bull be able to win at Imola or even prevent McLaren from overtaking when mclaren simply drove past them at Miami

The Red Bull is capable of poles.
The McLaren suffers quite clearly when following other cars.
It's a narrow track that doesn't lean well for overtaking.

Does it? They both followed Verstappen easily before eventually overtaking in Miami.

Miami being straight laden and far wider than Imola, yes.

[f1isgood]

Why should red bull be able to win at Imola or even prevent McLaren from overtaking when mclaren simply drove past them at Miami

The Red Bull is capable of poles.
The McLaren suffers quite clearly when following other cars.
It's a narrow track that doesn't lean well for overtaking.

The Mercedes and McLaren are also capable of poles. You can't keep hoping others keep throwing it away. VER's pole are a mix of him getting a lot more out of the car and everyone around him throwing it.

[Seanspeed]

Why should red bull be able to win at Imola or even prevent McLaren from overtaking when mclaren simply drove past them at Miami

The Red Bull is capable of poles.
The McLaren suffers quite clearly when following other cars.
It's a narrow track that doesn't lean well for overtaking.

All these F1 cars suffer when following each other too closely for too long. It's like when people said that Mercedes had a particular problem with this, when we were simply seeing them have the same issue every other car also has. I dont think Mclaren has any particular problem with this relative to anybody else, either.

It doesn't totally change what you're saying though, as yes, at a track difficult to overtake, getting one over on the Mclaren duo in qualifying can give you a chance if you're rock solid the whole race, strategy is straightforward and you're not TOO far off the inherent Mclaren pace.