As Verstappen headed for a flawless and unblemished victory at Imola, with 20 laps to go, Fernando Alonso sent a message over the radio that sounded like torment: “This is going to be torture, I’m the unluckiest driver in the world.” And yes, you could say that. Especially given how things unfolded in a race that looked very promising for him and Aston Martin.
A poor strategy from the Aston Martin pit wall leaves Alonso without points
The car had pace, the car was running well. Even Stroll was there. Ahead, a hurricane named Verstappen managed to overtake Piastri at the start and from there he was unstoppable, untouchable. He won a race at Imola that he did come out victorious, and also with a bit of luck.
Because in a race where there were two Virtual Safety Cars, first with Ocon and then with Antonelli’s retirement, and the opportunity to get a free pit stop without losing time, the Dutchman took advantage. And he did it twice. Both times he had to pit, giving the McLarens and Russell a chance to fight him. Ferrari forgot Saturday’s disaster and was reborn in the race, with both Hamilton and Leclerc much faster and managing to finish the race in Imola with dignity, in front of their tifosi. Leclerc missed out on the podium (4th) and Hamilton banished his ghosts (6th), fighting to the end with Albon’s Williams (5th), which was always there.
Max Verstappen becomes a giant
Max emerged victorious at Imola, stopping twice, once under the VSC and once under the safety car. That’s where he spent most of his race. He also made a very important and vital start, where he showed enormous courage in pushing his car to the limit to overtake Piastri on the outside of the first corner, who did not expect him to pass him so early.
From then on, the Red Bull driver pulled further and further ahead (at one point he was 30 seconds ahead) in a display of superiority throughout the Grand Prix. So much so that in the final part of the race, he drove like never before this weekend to set one fast lap after another. He pulled away from the McLarens for good and signaled that he is back in the fight.
This was very different from what happened to Alonso. The Aston Martin driver had a very promising day ahead of him. On paper, they could have finished in a good double points position, or at least made it to the end with both cars still in the race. But it was some rather ill-considered and erratic strategies from the pit wall that prevented that. In the end, they had a chance to finish at least tenth when they took advantage (perhaps too late…) of stopping under the virtual yellow flag for Antonelli’s car. Then, with new medium tires, but so did everyone else.
But the race was there for the taking. At the start, Alonso was fighting with Sainz and Russell for fourth place.
With used medium tires, the Asturian’s Aston Martin and Stroll’s car were feeling good, very comfortable. The times were coming easily, and although Sainz’s Williams seemed to have a little more in it, everything was going better than ever. But Piastri, incomprehensibly, opened the pit stop window. Aston Martin was the only team that didn’t have any more sets of medium tires.
That’s when Aston Martin decided it was time to pit, just as Sainz was doing, and their pit stop was even a second faster (2.6 seconds) than Carlos’s. But from then on, nothing went right. Knowing that they had one set of medium tires less than the rest (the tires that had been performing best since Saturday), the team on the pit wall opted not to pit when it was time to do so, in order to save a final set for the end of the race, which, incidentally, also came out very late.
On the other hand, Franco Colapinto, making his ‘re-debut’ with Alpine at Imola, finished outside the top 15 in a more than difficult weekend, especially after that hard blow in qualifying on Saturday. In any case, it was a first race for the Argentine with the French team that ended well, bringing the car home. It was what he had to do. The rest will come.
Meanwhile, those who changed tires had a very important advantage at the end. Leclerc defended fourth place against Albon, who was short of resources to overtake the Ferrari. They even touched, with the Williams going into the gravel, and Hamilton gained the position. In the end, Charles had to give up fifth place to avoid a penalty. Sainz held on to eighth against Hadjar.
So, from that pit stop onwards, Alonso and Stroll were ‘playing’ with the DRS to make the other drivers take a little longer to overtake them. But it was useless. With the Safety Car coming out due to Antonelli’s retirement, there was a chance to make a final sprint and finish the race in a better position, where he even came close to scoring points, battling with Tsunoda until the checkered flag. But it wasn’t to be. In any case, it’s fair to say that this is a different Aston Martin. It fights, it’s in the mix, it gets involved, it has pace and, above all, it’s capable of being up front to fight for more than just one point. “We have a car capable of fighting for points on its own merits.” That’s it.