F1Weekly Podcast # 1095

Max beats Piastri in turn one to take the lead and dominate the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix! Ferrari with good race pace bring joy to the Tifosi with p4 and p6. Albon gets lucky with p5 and again no points for Aston Martin.

IMOLA, ITALY – MAY 18: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 leads Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W16 Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes and the rest of the field at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari on May 18, 2025 in Imola, Italy. (Photo by Lars Baron/LAT Images)

Verstappen Makes Early Move Count To Win Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Reigning four-time world champion Max Verstappen produced a brilliant start from second on the grid to surge past Oscar Piastri and manage the race masterfully to bank his second win of the 2025 season, the fastest lap and close the title gap to the Australian to just 22 points.

The Dutchman and the garage delivered the goods at Imola on Sunday as Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Yuki Tsunoda recovered from Saturday’s qualifying crash to claim a point in 10th.

Oscar:

“I just braked too early, it was a good move by Max as well,” said Piastri after finishing third, cutting his Drivers’ Championship lead to just 13 points over team mate Lando Norris.
“It’s disappointing obviously, but I think we made a few wrong calls after that anyway. Not our best Sunday, so definitely a lot of things to look at and review from that one.
Well done to Max and Red Bull. It was a good move, but also they had pace today. We’ll look back on that one and see what we can do a bit better.
I tried my best to hang onto second, but I just had nowhere near enough grip, so third it is.”

Max:

“To have the win here is fantastic. The start wasn’t the best but I can say turn two was good! Once we got into the lead I think we showed what we could do with the pace of the car and I could push quite nicely. The race was a lot more promising than what I expected, which was really good for us, and the car felt a lot more stable. We have clearly made a step forward with the set up of the car. I looked after my tyres quite well and it felt really good on both of the compounds. It took a while for the car to be cleared during the VSC but we were able to pit which was good.

It was a bit of a reset and I could also pull away as Oscar had used tyres. I am really happy with this result and from the Team’s side we did everything well: good strategy, good pit stops and really calm communication everywhere, which is what you need in a successful race. It was a big weekend for us and good to see that the upgrades worked on the car. Big thank you to everyone here and at the factory for this, this makes our 400th race even more special. Hopefully we can extract what we learnt here today a bit more often. It has been a really positive weekend for us and we will keep on going, keep trying to be better and of course enjoy it a bit tonig

IMOLA, ITALY – MAY 18: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing sprays the victory Champagne on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari on May 18, 2025 in Imola, Italy. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Christian:

“What a win for Max in Imola! The perfect way to celebrate our 400th race and claim our fourth consecutive victory here. It was an impressive all-round performance. Max delivered a sensational move at turn one to take the lead, followed by some strong work in the pit lane from the Team at the opportune moment to deliver a clinical victory. It was also a strong drive for Yuki who got into the points from the pit lane after the Team did a great job to rebuild his car overnight after Qualifying. A great 400th race for the Team which gives us something to build on into Monaco next week!”

Alex:

I’m very happy. P4 was possible today if the Safety Car didn’t come out at the end or if you take away the Charles incident, but I’m not going to say I’m disappointed with P5! When I look at the battle with Charles, I would probably have done the same; it wasn’t that crazy, he was just trying to hold his position, but then I lost out to Lewis. Maybe I could have been a bit more patient with my overtake of Charles, but at that point in the race I was feeling so good that I was thinking: ‘Oscar is up ahead on worn tyres, maybe I could go after him!’

I’m still very happy with the race; on pure pace we were running P4, P5, so we were able to extend the first stint and that set us up for the whole race. The consistent pace we’re showing opens up the window for what else we can do, so let’s keep going and enjoying i

Fernando:

“The car was very strong today and I was having a good race until the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) turned our race upside down. I think without this VSC we could have been fighting for P6 or P7 and scored points on merit.

At the restart we were out of the points but managed to overtake three cars in nine laps and we just ran out of time. It’s a real shame but let’s hope for better luck in future races.”

This week’s classic Nasir Hameed: Interviews with Ralf Schumacher at Barcelona, Milka Duno and Alex Gurny at Sears Point in 2006.

JAMES VOWLES, JAMIE CHADWICK AND LIA BLOCK TO DRIVE NIGEL MANSELL’S FW14B AT GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED

Atlassian Williams Racing’s James Vowles, Jamie Chadwick and Lia Block are set to showcase the iconic FW14B at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed as the prestigious event celebrates 75 years of Formula 1. The pinnacle of motorsport has inspired the overall theme of this year’s festival: ‘The Winning Formula: Champions and Challengers’, and Williams will demonstrate a car that holds a legendary status in F1 history.

In addition to the line-up of James, Jamie and Lia, the team is delighted to announce that 1992 F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell will grace the festival, driving the FW14B over the weekend. Nigel last made a triumphant visit to the festival with the Grove-based squad in 2022, driving the 14B to rapturous reception from the hundreds of thousands of devoted motorsport fans in attendance, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his Championship title with Williams. This year will see him revisit the glories of his illustrious career once again, in the car that delivered him nine Grand Prix victories in the 1992 season.

After driving the 1982 Drivers’ Championship-winning FW08 at last year’s Festival of Speed, James Vowles will return to take to the wheel of his stand-out car from Williams’ F1 history: the FW14B. The chassis that James, Jamie, Lia and Nigel will drive is the very one that Nigel was driving when he became World Champion in Hungary and also recorded wins at Silverstone, Hockenheim and Estoril.

He will be joined over the weekend by Atlassian Williams Racing Brand Ambassador and F1 Academy Adviser Jamie Chadwick, who has had a stellar start to her European Le Mans Series season with two back-to-back race victories in Barcelona and Paul Ricard. 2025 has seen her become the first-ever female driver to secure an outright win in ELMS.

Emerging US star and F1 Academy driver Lia Block will complete the line-up. Lia joined James at the 2024 Festival of Speed to experience her first taste of a Formula 1 car, driving the FW08, and she will now have the honour of taking to the wheel of one of the greatest F1 cars of all time.

The 2025 Festival of Speed will work with Formula 1 to host its biggest ever celebration in honour of the 75th anniversary of the F1 World Championship. F1 will take its place at the very centre of the Festival of Speed this year as legendary drivers, teams, cars and more are expected to descend on the Goodwood Estate as the festival pays tribute to their achievements.