Surprisingly good race for being Imola in the dry. I can't even remember the last time we had this many overtakes here. Feels good that the track goes out with a bit of a bang, even though on balance I won't really miss it.
What can you even say about Max at this point. As someone who isn't a personal fan of his it gets annoying to have to pay your respects every race, but he is so far ahead of the rest of the field in terms of skill that you just have to sit back in awe. Beautiful overtake and superbly managed race. Again we see the importance of clean air this season and that turn 1 lap 1 basically won Max the race.
Disappointing race from McLaren on all fronts basically. Pace wasn't there, strategy wasn't there and even the pitstops were poor. Very curious to see if this was a one-off or the beginning of a backwards slide. Max was genuinely faster here but clean air muddles the picture. The flexi-wing rules change is just around the corner too. Is the balance of power shifting?
Impressed by the fightback from Ferrari, their race pace was actually quite strong and I thought they had some good strategy calls actually. I felt Leclerc's pain at the end but they had no other options, putting him on a soft was suicidal. It's unfortunate for them that with the current dirty air issues they seem to have good race pace but awful qualy pace, which is sort of the opposite of what you want now. They had some mixed luck with the VSC and Safety Car both taking and giving but overall I think both drivers got everything out of the race for once. A couple of more laps and that's a Hamilton podium, even.
Mercedes had a weird race, Antonelli was struggling even before the DNF but George too seemed to have terrible pace, especially after the pitstops. Maybe it was just too hot for them, their car has hated high temperatures the past few years.
Also have to mention Albon pulling another fantastic race. My brain says Max for driver of the day but my heart says Albon. I really think if he got past Leclerc there instead of going into the gravel he had a shot at Piastri and the podium.
Let's not talk about Aston.