Although the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix wasn’t the most thrilling race of the season, several drivers will look back very fondly at their weekend.
Max Verstappen produced his best win of the season and Lando Norris will be delighted with the progress McLaren have made this year.
Karun Chandhok was commentating on the race for Sky Sports F1 (19/5 2:38pm) and spotted another driver who took his performance to another level at Imola.
The circuit made overtaking extremely tricky and unless there was a big delta in raw speed or tyre performance, it wasn’t too difficult for cars to overtake.
That doesn’t mean Verstappen wasn’t relieved when the chequered flag waved with Norris finally within a second of his rival as they crossed the line.
They were joined by Charles Leclerc on the podium, but Chandhok was quick to highlight how fast the man who finished by him – Oscar Piastri – was at Imola.
The young Australian took his career points tally to 150 with a fantastic 4-place finish.
He may wonder what he could have achieved if he hadn’t picked up a penalty in qualifying that denied him a spot on the front row of the grid.
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When Oscar Piastri crossed the line on Saturday, he would have been slightly frustrated that he couldn’t find an extra tenth to secure pole position after a brilliant lap.
The tow Verstappen earned from Nico Hulkenberg on his final run made the difference but the 23-year-old probably knew in the back of his mind that a penalty was coming after impeding Kevin Magnussen.
Piastri showed from the off that he was faster than Carlos Sainz and Ferrari’s questionable strategy call to leave the Spaniard out gifted him 4.
His out-lap was sensational and he quickly closed up to Leclerc, although his tyre management could once again be called into question as he appeared to take too much out of the hards and fell away from the Monegasque driver eventually.
Chandhok was left seriously impressed by Piastri’s raw speed at Imola and it was another encouraging sign for the McLaren driver that he outqualified his teammate and looked capable of producing very similar race pace.
If Piastri can replicate that performance on Saturday in Monaco – without picking up a penalty – he’ll have a great chance of earning pole position and another positive result.
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Commentating on the race during the pit stop window, Chandhok said: “[Lando] Norris has come and he’s in the clear, but I’m more concerned about the [Carlos] Sainz vs [Oscar] Piastri thing.
“Piastri’s done a 19.9 fastest lap, that’s devastatingly fast, a full second faster than Norris there.
“As we see Leclerc trying to energise his tyres, now I think that Piastri and the McLaren camp on that side have caught Sainz and his engineer napping there.
“They could have pitted early, they could have boxed early and they have put off that stop.
“They have now effectively lost track position.”
Chandhok was joined by Damon Hill in praising Piastri after his performance at Imola but he’ll be frustrated not to have joined his teammate on the podium.
There has been a suggestion that Piastri is being overshadowed by Norris but his recent form is improving and with a fully upgraded McLaren he could help the team leapfrog Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship.
However, he’ll have loftier ambitions than just being a team player this year and will be hoping he can join Norris in achieving his maiden Grand Prix victory in 2024 after earning a Sprint Race win last season.
The sky’s the limit for Piastri if he can iron out a few small bugbears in his driving technique.
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