The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix very much felt like the start of a new chapter in the 2025 Formula 1 season. The battle lines had been drawn in the opening rounds of the campaign and now the circus was heading to Europe, where those battles would truly begin.
While it's exciting heading into the unknown at the start of a season, I always enjoy getting to this stage, where a pecking order has largely established itself, drivers are more comfortable with their machinery, and the narratives of the year begin to really emerge.
That was indeed the case in Imola, and these are my main takeaways from it.
New life, same Verstappen
It's often said that Formula 1 drivers slow down when they become fathers, being ever-so-slightly less willing to take risks with a child to think about. "I knew he’d hit the brakes, he has a wife and two kids at home," Fernando Alonso famously said 20 years ago after pulling off an audacious move on Michael Schumacher in Japan. If that is a rule though, Max Verstappen may be the exception to it.
The Dutchman became a father for the first time just before the Miami Grand Prix and didn't enjoy his best race in Florida, but it took him precisely one corner in Imola to make it abundantly clear that the birth of his daughter Lily isn't going to make his driving any safer or any slower.
Starting in P2, he didn't get off the line particularly well and looked to be in danger of being overtaken by George Russell, but out of nowhere he then swept into the lead of the race, braking late and flying around the outside of Oscar Piastri in one of the bravest and most thrilling moves I've seen in a long time.
He carried so much more speed into the turn that I was briefly convinced that he'd go straight into the gravel, and my jaw literally dropped as he squeezed through the smallest of gaps between Piastri and that gravel to take a lead he then never looked like relinquishing, such was his pace for the rest of the day.
Only he has been fearless enough to even attempt such moves in the past and that will clearly remain the case going forward, which is great news for the sport and bad news for his rivals.
Tifosi treated to Hammer time
Like their season as a whole up to that point, Ferrari's first home race of 2025 looked set to be a big disappointment when Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton qualified down in P11 and P12 in Imola. However, a day later, the Tifosi left the circuit with plenty to be happy about after finally being on the right end of Hammer time.
The phrase, code for Lewis Hamilton putting his foot down, struck fear into the hearts of Ferrari's loyal fans time and time again during the seven-time world champion's time at Mercedes, but that fear was replaced by joy on Sunday as they watched him fight his way through the field in their own colours.
He was quick from the start of the race, keeping up with and passing the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli before a Safety Car worked in his favour and allowed him to close up to the top five with fresher tyres than those just ahead of him. In the nine laps that followed, he picked off George Russell, Alex Albon and Leclerc to secure his best Grand Prix result of the season.
It may have been luck more than anything that caused him to beat his teammate, but Hamilton still had a lot of work to do and did it excellently, looking comfortable in his car for the first time since round two in China.
While he won a sprint race in Shanghai, it's the race just gone that will be the highlight of his Ferrari career so far. Every man to have driven for the team has spoken of how special it feels to receive the adoration of the Tifosi, and he's now felt that.
Ferrari are an emotional team and driving for them is an emotional experience. He was frustrated at best and furious at worst over the team radio in Miami, but he sounded more upbeat and excited than he has in a long, long time on that same radio in Imola, and that high is probably worth the lows.
Hadjar turning heads
Hamilton's race could well have been even better if not for Isack Hadjar, who really caught the eye by holding off Antonelli and Hamilton for a long time before ultimately scoring a well-deserved two points.
The French rookie showed really impressive pace to make it into Q3 and stay ahead of two much faster cars for much of the race, and real composure to hold onto P9 in the closing stages when the Safety Car bunched up the field.
With teammate Liam Lawson never getting near the top 10 on Saturday or Sunday, Hadjar is very much establishing himself as the lead driver at Red Bull's sister team, which Christian Horner and Helmut Marko will have no doubt taken notice of, especially with Yuki Tsunoda crashing out of qualifying and finishing just behind the Frenchman.
You could put Hadjar's dominance over Lawson down to the latter suffering a crisis of confidence after being dropped by Red Bull, but the former was holding his own against Tsunoda before that swap too.
Tsunoda himself is showing that being quick in the Racing Bull does not necessarily mean you'll be quick in the Red Bull, but if the two drivers keep performing as they did in Imola, don't rule out another swap before the end of the season.
