Five Formula 1 Winners & Losers: Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
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Last season, the Grand Prix in Imola was canceled due to flooding.
But we’re back!
And we were given a pretty boring race that became exciting at the end, but unfortunately ended one lap too early.
Let’s dive into the winners and losers.
Losers
5. Alexander Albon
He has long term security with the new contract he signed at Williams, and that’s a good thing.
But the first race after his new signing ended in turmoil, with a faulty pit stop giving him a 10 second penalty, before he retired from the grand prix.
It wasn’t supposed to be a great year for Williams, but it surely has been frustrating for Albon.
4. Pierre Gasly
The Alpine is plainly terrible this year, and Gasly is a good driver, but he’s also being handily beaten by his teammate and rival Esteban Ocon.
No matter how the car is, your benchmark is your teammate.
Gasly is losing that battle. By a lot.
3. Daniel Ricciardo
Qualifying was very good for Danny Ric, but the race left a lot to be desired, with the Australian finishing 13th, and behind his teammate Yuki Tsunoda once again.
You have to put the whole weekend together.
Ricciardo hasn’t yet.
2. Fernando Alonso
A crash in third practice for Alonso really put him on the back foot all weekend long, and he truly never recovered, qualifying 19th and finishing 19th.
Just a complete weekend to forget.
1. Sergio Perez
When you’re in the fastest car, missing Q3 and finishing outside of the top 5 simply isn’t good enough.
Nobody expects him to beat Verstappen, but he so much so regularly finishes miles behind him that it’s putting Perez’s future at Red Bull in a major jeopardy.
Winners
5. Yuki Tsunoda
As mentioned above, Yuki put together a full weekend, qualifying 7th and finishing 10th in the race.
Crucially, he’s been less noticeable on the radio too.
Angry Yuki may be funny, but calm Yuki is very, very fast.
4. Charles Leclerc
A weekend where you’re significantly quicker than your teammate is always a win, especially when it ends up with a podium.
Now, he can try to have a good race at home this weekend.
Let’s see.
3. Lance Stroll
It’s been a very tough year for Stroll, but 9th got him points where his teammate Fernando Alonso was nowhere close to him.
It doesn’t amend the year as a whole, but it’s still a great race.
2. Max Verstappen
Verstappen won, shock surprise there.
But he also became the second driver ever to get 8 pole positions in a row in Formula 1.
He’s one of the best ever, if there was any doubt there.
1. Lando Norris
If you’re a Norris fan, you have to be even more confident after a second place finish than you were after he won in Miami two weeks ago.
All race long, it looked like Verstappen was going to breeze to a victory.
In fact, it looked like he may even be passed for 2nd and end up farther down in the results.
And then, a switch flipped.
Norris came flying back, getting within less than a second of Verstappen, and likely would have won if not for simply running out of time.
Seeing that comeback effort made me realize that Norris is finding another level, as is McLaren in general.
Here’s to hoping we get more battles for wins for the rest of the season.
