McLaren’s pole position curse at Imola: no wins since 1998. McLaren has failed to convert any of its last five pole positions at Imola.

Piastri, a missed opportunity at Imola
At Imola, Oscar Piastri had the chance to send another important message to the World Championship by securing his fourth consecutive and fifth seasonal win. Instead, the Australian’s streak ended on the Santerno circuit: a fatal hesitation in turn 1, where #81 was too passive and distracted against Max Verstappen, who overtook him on the outside of Tamburello with a brilliant, clean, and courageous move.

For the first time in his career, Oscar Piastri failed to convert a pole position into a victory: in China and Bahrain, he had defended his Saturday result by winning the GP as well. In general, securing pole position at Imola doesn’t seem to bring luck to McLaren: none of the last five poles at the “Enzo e Dino Ferrari” circuit have been turned into a win.

The record
McLaren also took pole at Imola in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2005, with Mika Hakkinen (who started first at the 1999 and 2000 San Marino GPs), David Coulthard, and Kimi Raikkonen. The two-time world champion in 1999 crashed out exiting Variante Bassa while leading, and in the following season was overtaken in the pits by Michael Schumacher. In 2001, it was the other Schumacher – Ralf – who outsmarted the McLarens, springing off the start and overtaking the Coulthard-Hakkinen pair who had dominated the front row. In 2005, Kimi Raikkonen was betrayed by a gearbox failure on lap nine.

The last pole converted into a victory by McLaren at Imola was in 1998, when David Coulthard confidently led the entire GP ahead of Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine in his MP4/13.