Red Bull won the seventh round of the 2025 F1 season. The Imola weekend started very promisingly for McLaren. The Woking team’s drivers effectively dominated all the practice sessions without problems. However, when it came down to racing, Max Verstappen showed he could be a real threat to the English team’s drivers, and that’s how it turned out.
The overtake at Tamburello was a product of the reigning world champion’s flair. Piastri was probably close enough in the fight with Max, imagining a scenario similar to Miami where a Red Bull struggled with race pace. McLaren’s men, led by Andrea Stella, expected the race to favor the Australian driver thanks to better tire management.
But after just a few laps, it became clear that the RB21 at Imola was not only capable of holding off the championship leader’s MCL39 but also pulling away during the two restarts after the Virtual and Safety Cars. This surprised almost everyone, especially the McLaren team principal, who openly admitted it after the race.
Objective factors and those hard to measure
What changed from Miami to Imola? Several objective factors and others difficult to measure. Let’s start with circuit geometry. The RB21 showed it could compete in high-speed corners in Japan and Jeddah. Max’s monstrous first qualifying sector confirmed the Austrian car’s aptitude for particular corner geometries.
Secondly, at the Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the RB21 debuted a substantial upgrade package developed by the technical group led by Pierre Waché. Even Verstappen does not know how much this first development package added. Again, some surprise was evident.
What is certain is that it worked without any performance downgrade, as the blue racing cars showed more pace. Only Max managed to extract the maximum, being a deep connoisseur of the RB21. However, just before the first Italian F1 round, the FIA issued two technical directives that, rather than changing the rules, clarified them.
McLaren legal under FIA microscope
To contextualize the political fight between Red Bull and McLaren, it is necessary to recall that after the Miami Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri’s car underwent the following inspections:
3.13 – Compliance of all inspected components with the technical regulation article (Wheel Bodywork):
3.13.1 – General principles
3.13.2 – Brake drum
3.13.3 – Brake Scoop
3.13.4 – Internal cooling ducts
3.13.5 – Front drum deflector
3.13.6 – Rear drum deflector
3.13.7 – Wheel Cover
11.5 – Brake System – Liquid Cooling
In short, a true X-ray of the McL39 braking system. A symbolic check that confirmed the total legality of the solutions adopted on the papaya cars. Despite this meticulous inspection of the best car in this early part of the season, the skirmishes between the two teams have not calmed down. The war continues.
The FIA added “fuel to the fire” by issuing clarifications just before the Imola Grand Prix on two much-discussed areas: the skid blocks located on the car’s plank and tire cooling. Regarding the plank, the governing body specified the allowed materials and mounting methods to prevent assemblies that achieve minimal ride height yet still pass post-race skid block inspections. On tire cooling, the FIA clarified the line between legal and illegal practices. Essentially… a way to shed as much light and clarity as possible on key situations.
Red Bull’s Imola triumph born from FIA clarifications
Putting one and one together, it could be simplistically thought that the directives received by the teams before Imola from the FIA somehow played a decisive role in McLaren’s first truly off-form race of 2025. Stella is pleased that competitors are focusing their attention on areas that are not the real strength of the English cars.
The team led by Christian Horner expressed surprise after the race at the poor race pace of the papaya cars, hinting that the two McLarens may have had to sacrifice (perhaps) a bit of performance due to the clarifications provided by the FIA before the Italian weekend on the banks of the Santerno river.
What is certain, thinking logically, is that doubts about the legality of McLaren’s project can only be dispelled after the Spanish Grand Prix next week, when the long-discussed TD018 directive comes into effect—a stricter rule on front wing flexibility. The championship of suspicions has only just begun…
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