After six fly away races to kick off 2025, F1 finally heads to Europe for the Emilia Romana Grand Prix.
With four wins from the opening six Grand Prix this season, championship leader Oscar Piastri holds a 16-point advantage over McLaren’s teammate Randnoris, and has promised to be a key race that starts at Imola.
Here are some of the biggest story points as F1 launches a European triple header…
Can Ferrari respond at home?
Ferrari heads to the first of two home races this year under heavy pressure following a disastrous start to the season.
The Italian outfit dropped another smell in Miami last time as Charles Leclair and Lewis Hamilton only finished 7th and 8th in the latest inactiveness of Formula 1’s most iconic and successful teams.
Ferrari made the headline for the wrong reasons, infuriating Hamilton and engaging the seven-time world champion in a cheeky team radio conflict and preventing him from telling team boss Fred Vasser he was “not very sensitive.”
Scuderia is set to start a poor start until 2025 and begin introducing major updates to the car from Imola to help Hamilton make much needed progress in his adaptation.
If there is a best time to react to a Ferrari, it is in the soil of your home.
Hamilton finished third in the Miamis Print event
Does Oscar Piastri highlight his early position?
There is no doubt that the next run of three races in Trot will be crucial in shaping how the 2025 F1 title battle unfolds for the rest of the campaign.
With the team set up to bring numerous new upgrades for the important European feet of the season, those fighting in front of the grid aim to make the mark amidst the gust of Grand Prix, which is set to play a major role in the championship story. There is also uncertainty about how the looming technical clampdown of Barcelona’s Flexiwing will affect the order of competition.
Piastri already builds a comfortable buffer for Norris, winning three wins over his teammates, but I know he can’t afford to relax. The McLaren pair avoids Max Verstappen and George Russell (32 and 38 points before) who followed after the dominant show in Miami.
Piastry already shows plenty of indications that he is capable and ready to win the Maiden World title, but the Australian has a real opportunity to highlight his status as a championship favorite.
Oscar Piastri is a beat man
How will you return your new Franco breakfast?
Franco Colapinto returned to the Formula 1 grid this weekend, replacing Jacques Douhan, who was cruelly demoted to Alpine Reserve Driver after failing to score one point in the first six races of the season.
Corapinto has been linked to Duhan’s seat since joining Alpine in January, but he gets the chance to impress alongside Pierre Guthrie following Williams’ surprise and eye-catching cameo late last year.
However, pressure is applied quickly to the shoulders of the Corapinto. The 21-year-old Argentina has been confirmed only in the next five races, three of which are thicker and faster. Colapinto hasn’t raced for five months and doesn’t have the luxury of time to adapt to Alpine. He has to speed up quickly between intense and challenging triple headers.
Colapinto is determined to not only secure seating for the rest of the season, but also prove he will be framed for a full-time drive with the French team in 2026.
It will also be interesting to see how Oliver Oaks’ sudden, unexpected departure felt at Alpine and how executive advisor Flavio Briatore effectively takes over his foreseeable future team principal.
Franco Colapinto, Flavio Briartoll
Is there a new star in Italy?
Kimi Antoneri challenges her first Formula One race in Italy since her debut with Mercedes this weekend.
Imola is truly Antoneri’s home race. The 18-year-old rookie was born down the road from a Bologna venue and often visited the Autodromo Enzo Dino Ferrari circuit. Antoneri was making waves early in his Formula 1 career, becoming the youngest driver to take pole position in the sprint at the last Miami Grand Prix.
With Ferrari’s flounder starting in 2025, Antonelli was able to give the house crowd something to cheer.
Kimi Antoneri celebrates his maiden F1 pole
Goodbye to Imola?
Imola continues to be part of the Formula 1 calendar as classic tracks returned in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the world championship schedule.
However, 2025 is the final year of the current contract, and all signs point to falling from the 2026 calendar. Stefano Domenicali, from Imola, shows that his home race rarely holds two grand prixes on a 24-round schedule.
Therefore, this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is poised to write about the end of Imola as the venue for the Grand Prix, at least for the time being.