2025 F1 Imola GP: Driver Ratings

The 2025 F1 Imola GP was an intense affair, and it ended with Max Verstappen coming out on top and eating into Oscar Piastri's lead in the championship. The race featured multiple stoppages and had multiple cases of the drivers being forced to be very cautious of how they approached.

The F1 Imola GP has a tendency to be a race where you have to be careful and make sure you don't make too many mistakes. There were quite a few drivers that had a strong race, while there were others that were maybe a tad unlucky and then would lose out. How did each and every driver perform this weekend? Let's take a look.

Criteria

• Performance in both qualifying and races is judged.
• Results achieved compared to the potential of the car.
• Mistakes made over the weekend.
• Relative performance against teammate.

---

2025 F1 Imola GP: Rating the drivers

McLaren

Lando Norris

Rating: 7.5

Lando Norris would be going back home happy that he salvaged a decent result and cut into Oscar Piastri's championship lead. But let's face it, this was a result of a roll of a dice that worked against the Australian. In terms of performance and keeping things clean, Norris didn't really have the best qualifying again, and hence he should be relatively happy with a decent result.

Oscar Piastri

Rating: 8.5

Oscar Piastri has arguably been a driver who lost the last two races not by being fast but by being mistake-free. At the F1 Imola GP, Piastri got outfoxed at the start, and that was it, more or less. He was a bit unlucky with the safety car, and maybe a better result was taken away by misfortune.

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc

Rating: 9.5

Charles Leclerc was the epitome of a driver who is just trying to go against the tide, and hopefully that helps him succeed. In many ways Leclerc was the standout driver of the grid at the F1 Imola GP. Multiple stoppages worked against him, and so did the strategy as well. It was a peerless drive that deserved more than a P6.

Lewis Hamilton

Rating: 8.5

If you're a Lewis Hamilton fan, there are reasons to be happy with how not only the F1 Imola GP went but also the race in Miami. The driver is slowly starting to get the hang of the car, and the gap between him and Leclerc has narrowed. This was a strong overall race for him, and P4 is a brilliant result.

With that being said, he did get lucky with the safety car timing and the virtual safety car timing, which in effect ruined his teammate's race to benefit his. Overall, the results matter, and the driver would be extremely happy at the end of the day.

Red Bull

Max Verstappen

Rating: 9.5

Why not a full 10? Max Verstappen arguably left a smidge on the table in qualifying against Oscar Piastri. With that being said, the overtake into T1 was a stunner from the driver, one that would be remembered for years to come.

Red Bull has improved for sure, and Verstappen would be hoping to build on this momentum.

Yuki Tsunoda

Rating: 5

Yuki Tsunoda had a brilliant race on Sunday where he did score a point and strategically placed his car in a manner that Fernando Alonso couldn't make his way through the field in the later stages.

With that being said, if your teammate is winning a race and you're scoring a point, That's not acceptable. Yuki has had a few races under his belt now, and it is time for him to step up and be closer to Verstappen.

Mercedes

George Russell

Rating: 8

Russell did what he could in the Mercedes, but the car just doesn't have the pace to be competitive against the top 2. The driver slowly slipped back in the race, but it was more just down to the car not having the pace to keep up with the Red Bulls or McLarens.

Kimi Antonelli

Rating: 6

This was a poor weekend for Kimi Antonelli, as the driver just didn't have the pace or performance of his teammate. Mercedes has its tire degradation issues for sure, but the inability to keep up with Russell throughout the F1 Imola GP was visible.

It's still early days for Kimi, and he is going through a learning process, but the performance was not up to par.

Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso

Rating: 8.5

You could see Fernando Alonso's desperation and disappointment during the F1 Imola GP, and one of the reasons behind it was the fact that he knew there were points on the table that he kept losing because he was just plain unlucky with the strategy.

With that being said, in terms of performance, you could not fault Alonso one bit, as he was once again dragging every bit of performance from the car.

Lance Stroll

Rating: 7

Lance Stroll had a decent weekend in Imola, where he was a step behind his teammate for sure but got a bit unlucky with strategy. If the car continues to improve, we'll have more points for the Canadian and his team, as the Imola GP was surely a sign of progress from the squad.

Alpine

Pierre Gasly

Rating: 7

Maybe a weekend that went away from Alpine and Pierre Gasly. The driver had a decent qualifying, but going off-track while battling Charles Leclerc was something that didn't do him any favors. Once that happened, it was all over for the Frenchman, as the race just never came to him after that.

Franco Colapinto

Rating: 4.5

Franco Colapinto has come back to F1 with, in the eyes of a few people, the image of a bit of a crash kid. He didn't do himself any favors when he completely wrecked the car in F1 Imola GP qualifying. That's not a good look for the Argentinian, and fortunately for him, the next race is within a week, giving him time to just move on from a poor start to life at Alpine.

Haas

Esteban Ocon

Rating: 6

It was a bit of a helpless weekend for Esteban Ocon, who was just too far off what the Haas was capable of. In a trend that is slowly becoming more and more prominent, the driver has a good race alternated by a bad one, and a part of it seems to be rooted in the car's inability to perform in the fast speed sections.

Ocon hasn't had the best start to life at Haas, as even though the peaks have been brilliant, there are too many lows as well.

Ollie Bearman

Rating: 6.5

Ollie Bearman was the faster of the two Haas drivers and had decent pace in the car throughout Imola GP. In the end, unfortunately, the chips didn't fall in place, but there's reason to be optimistic, at least on this side of the team's garage.

Racing Bulls

Liam Lawson

Rating: 6

Lawson was very unlucky in qualifying to get caught out by the red flag. With that being said, he was the slower Racing Bull at the F1 Imola GP, and that was partly the reason behind his elimination.

The Kiwi needs to pick up his game and fast; Arvid Lindblad is already starting to turn heads in F2, and we know how fickle Red Bull management can be.

Isack Hadjar

Rating: 8

Hadjar continues to impress with what he's doing in the Racing Bulls as he once again scored points for the team. The F1 Imola GP could have potentially been a better one for the French driver if it was a straightforward race, but for now he'll take the points that he can get and continue to build on it.

Williams

Alex Albon

Rating: 8.5

It doesn't matter which way you roll the dice; Alex Albon has the ability to just find himself in the right place at the right time. This seems to be his mantra in 2025, and the F1 Imola GP was just another example of it. Another strong haul of points for the Williams driver, who is making the most of a strong car.

Carlos Sainz

Rating: 8

Carlos Sainz was very unlucky that the strategy went southwards for him, but that's just how the roll of a dice works sometimes. With that being said, there are positives for the Spaniard from this weekend as he continues to get closer to Alex Albon.

Sauber

Nico Hulkenberg

Rating: 8

If somehow Nico Hulkenberg had hustled his Sauber into points in the F1 Imola GP, then that would have been an even better drive from the German than what he did in Australia early in the year. The bottom line is that the car is just slow, and you can only drag it to a certain point.

Gabriel Bortoleto

Rating: 6.5

A decent weekend from Bortoleto, who continues to snap at the heels of his teammate. The best thing for Gabriel appears to be the fact that he can just sit back and learn from Hulkenberg away from the spotlight, and he seems to be doing this at an impressive rate.