Overlooking the disastrous outcome of the qualifying session on Saturday and focusing only on the events on Sunday afternoon at the 4.909-kilometre Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Ferrari had a very good race in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the seveth round of the 2025 Formula 1 championship. Pit stop timing and overall strategy were generally correct. The only flaw may have been the handling of car number 16, Charles Leclerc’s, during the Safety Car period, but we will look into that later. On paper, finishing the race on the Pirelli C6 tyre did not seem feasible given a short interruption, but perhaps a more aggressive approach could have yielded a surprise in the end.
In the first part of the race, Ferrari’s drivers followed two opposite strategies. Charles Leclerc started on medium tyres and shortened the first stint significantly to undercut George Russell. The Monegasque, who was overall six tenths slower than Verstappen, correctly chose to get rid of the drag reduction system train by pitting early and committing to a two-stop strategy.
Lewis Hamilton did not have that option, as he was forced to run long on the hard tyres. The British driver was partially held up by Kimi Antonelli, which explains his slower lap times. The Briton suffered a lot in dirty air, losing on average more than a second per lap to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
The world champion, thanks to a textbook overtake on Oscar Piastri at Tamburello after the start, showed an untouchable pace. The Australian chose to switch strategy, pitting after just 11 laps. Lando Norris struggled to get past George Russell, losing time to the leading duo. Degradation data shows the British driver was stuck behind his compatriot until the latter pitted, after which he matched Max Verstappen’s pace.
In the second part of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the two SF-25 cars put on a show for the fans. But the pace could have been better, considering Ferrari’s drivers made several overtakes on a track where such moves are very difficult to perform, leaving some potential untapped. The spectacular race, somewhat atypical for the circuit on the banks of the Santerno River, was helped by strong headwinds on the main straight, which increased top speeds.
That also explains why we saw more overtakes than expected with the DRS system. Charles Leclerc was slower than his teammate due to a worse track position. The Monegasque’s inconsistent lap times were the result of the overtakes he had to make. Mercedes did not live up to the promising signs from free practice. George Russell, who started third, never found the right rhythm.
In the middle part of the race, he was on average two seconds per lap slower than Lando Norris. Kimi Antonelli managed his tyres better but was stopped by a throttle failure. The young Italian driver, who was not performing poorly in the race, used his excellent top speed at the end of the straight to defend and compensate for the shortcomings in his W16’s race pace at Imola.
The final stint was handled differently by the teams. The deciding factor was the availability of new tyres and the risk of losing positions. Among the top drivers, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Lewis Hamilton made their final stops during the Safety Car period. Thanks to the tyre advantage, the Ferrari and McLaren drivers regained positions over their teammates by pushing without concern for tyre wear.
Charles Leclerc was unable to stop the performance drop in the final part of the stint due to excessive degradation, losing position to Alexander Albon’s Williams, which had fresh tyres. Piastri, with McLaren, managed the start of the stint more steadily. That allowed him to mitigate the performance drop in the final part of the race, holding off Hamilton’s charge.
— see video above —
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