F1 | Imola GP report cards – Verstappen strong, Norris show, Leclerc and Sainz good

Max Verstappen 10 The push against Hamilton, forcefully, at the start is a sharp blow that smacks of a proclamation, because the boy, in the midst of maturity, glides onto the track which is a marvel, unstoppable in his progress towards something which is suddenly more than a mere utopia. Lead with the conviction of those who believe in it.

lewis hamilton 6,5 However, the vote is positive because, aided by Lady Luck, he recovers from the Tosa-style mistake with a disarming and deadly pace for those nearby. After the restart he devours the two McLarens and the two Ferraris with malice, moving back behind Verstappen and limiting the damage in a sublime way. But in Imola he was badly beaten, at the start and in the race.

Lando Norris 9 Lightning struck right from qualifying, as if something had clicked this year, because the form is amazing, the driving is spectacular, aggressive, effective. He annihilates Ricciardo for the second race in a row, Leclerc smokes at the restart. He only gives in to Hamilton, but he and this McLaren are candidates for a leading role.

Charles Leclerc 7,5 Fast in all conditions, but that overtaking from Norris immediately hurts. A shot without the right of reply, which knocked him off a podium that he had built with great skill right from the start.

Carlos Sainz 7 He makes a mistake in qualifying, recovers at the start and then in the wet he acts like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, alternating very fast laps with excursions around the fields. Over the distance, however, he comes out great, with a pace that is encouraging to say the least and not inferior to that of his team mate. It is no coincidence that he finishes fifth, losing Ricciardo's McLaren.

Daniel Ricciardo 6,5 For now he is missing something behind the wheel of a McLaren to which he has yet to fully adapt. The gap with Norris is too wide. He brings home good points.

Pierre Gasly 6,5 A rollercoaster that translates into a seventh place finish which is a sigh of relief, because the choice to start with full wet tires doesn't pay off and he is overtaken by more or less everyone, but he doesn't get upset and goes back up. Cold.

Lance Stroll 7 In the technical chaos of his team, and in the environmental chaos of a chaotic race, to say the least, the Canadian held his own, running lucidly and finishing seventh under the checkered flag, before being relegated to eighth position for overtaking Gasly judged irregular. Good anyway.

Esteban Ocon 6,5 With an Alpine to review, he puts out good performances (Q3 in qualifying) and regulates his teammate throughout the weekend Fernando Alonso (5,5), appeared strangely uncomfortable and lackluster among the “friendly” curves of Imola.

Sergio Perez 4 The qualifying lap that earned him the beautiful front row is a flash of light in a weekend full of errors and inaccuracies since the contact with Ocon during free practice. He gets fooled by Leclerc in the wet, overtakes two cars under the safety car after his mistake, turns on the restart. He walks through the fields, under the eyes of that Helmut Marko who has little patience with those who make mistakes. Disastrous.

Yuki Tsunoda 4,5 Pure speed must be channeled, routed, accompanied with other qualities that are currently missing. Nervous and impetuous, quarrelsome with others and prone to making mistakes. The crash at the high chicane in qualifying and the mistake in the race seem like a physiological growth path for a rookie. Fast, but agitated. He will learn.

Kimi Raikkonen 6,5 He also allowed himself a certain level of excursion, but with his usual pounding pace he had climbed from the eighth row to the final ninth place. A great race, with the thirty second penalty for infringements at the restart which was a freezing shower.

Antonio Giovinazzi 7 There must be a total idiosyncrasy with Lady Luck here. Because Fortune, which helps the brave so much, seems to have it in for the Italian, forced to make a quick additional check in in the pits which costs him the first world championship points of the season, which he would have richly deserved thanks to a great performance.

Sebastian Vettel 5 Jumped from the SF1000 frying pan to the AMR21 grill, on a single-seater that not only does not match (yet) its driving characteristics, but which complains of a myriad of reliability problems. Brake-by-wire before setting off, transmission during the race. In the middle a penalty for faults that were not his. An ordeal that fuels the negative spiral into which he has fallen. Help.

Valtteri Bottas 5 He wandered around the fields of Tennessee, before Russell made him fly to the Tamburello at three hundred per hour, putting an end in the worst possible way to a test already in itself to be forgotten.

George Russel 2 The delusions of persecution against Bottas, accused of having voluntarily pushed him onto the grass and therefore of having caused the terrible accident between the two, are proof of the pressure with which the Englishman lives his career, obsessed with the desire to get on that Mercedes just savored. To say the least, the attitude after the accident was reprehensible, the total disregard for the conditions of the colleague stopped in the single-seater after a terrible crash, the mention of a blow on the helmet delivered with the glove. Out of mind.

Mick Schumacher 5 On the wall while warming the tires under the safety car, not the first to make this kind of mistake, but the one with the Haas is an accelerated F1 apprenticeship course. Still better than Nikita Mazepin (3) which was split evenly between track and gravel throughout the weekend. Both reached the finish line anyway, Steiner in disbelief.

Nicholas Latifi 4 Going through the meadows is not a crime, more or less it happened to all the drivers on Sunday, but returning as if you were the only driver on the track and cutting the track from left to right is a little more serious, so much so that you get caught in full force by an innocent (and already) Mazepin and finish the race against the wall.

Antonino Rendina

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