THE BIG PICTURE: It wasn't just that Verstappen won. It's that the Red Bull was clearly the better car. Max opened up a massive lead, and even after the Safety Car, he simply motored away again. Are things changing before we even get to the flexi wing technical directive at Barcelona?

EVENT: The definition of F1 passion.

TRACK: Like we said last year, we love this old school track. We understand why it's probably going away (let's face it, we were lucky it ever came back briefly), and to be honest it more often did not produce good races. But we'll still miss it.

QUALIFYING: Q1 had all the drama -- Tsunoda crashed hard, Colapinto crashed hard, and the FIA scratched their heads hard trying to (wrongly) figure out if Bearman's time counted. Q2 had its own drama with the home team (Ferrari) and home driver (Antonelli) getting knocked out. But Q3 didn't disappoint as Piastri and Verstappen leave it all out there with the Australian winning the battle this time.

RACE: This race will always be remembered by The Pass. But, different strategies, a VSC and SC throwing a wrench into those strategies, and some nice midfield moves, kept the spectators always interested.

START: Verstappen pulls off a pass for the ages going around the outside of Piastri who got a very good start, as Russell got the best start but to no avail as he was boxed in.

VERSTAPPEN: Just when you thought Max couldn't surprise you anymore.

RED BULL: Their 400th race. 124 wins. 286 podiums. 106 pole positions. 8 driver championships. 6 constructors' championships.

TSUNODA: Yes, Yuki came back to score a point after starting from the pit lane. But, this was one rough -- and painful -- weekend for him.

HADJAR: Is Isack the best number two driver Red Bull has in their stable?

LAWSON: Talk about rough times. Liam is now struggling to keep up with his Racing Bulls teammate.

NORRIS: The good news is Lando finished ahead of Piastri. The bad news is, it meant only a three point gain instead of seven.

PIASTRI: Caught out by the strategy and VSC. Oh, and leaving the outside open but who would have expected...

MCLAREN: Proof why you can never relax on the development front.

HAMILTON: If Lewis is happy, we guess we have to be happy.

LECLERC: Now, it's Charles' turn to be frustrated.

FERRARI: They nailed Leclerc's strategy. Only to flub it at the end.

ALBON: A fantastic race. And yes, why shouldn't Alex have dreamt of a podium finish the way the race was playing out.

RUSSELL: Not the race he wanted after starting third.

ALONSO: Great qualifying. Decent strategy. Overcame lack of new tires. But the VSC boned Fernando, leaving him with still zero points on the season.

COLAPINTO: He made his reputation with the strong start at Williams last year. But he somewhat soiled it with all the crashes at the end of that ride. And now, Franco starts out with his second chance crashing hard in qualifying.

HAAS: New upgrades wasted.

ANTONELLI: Hometown boy without the fairy tale race.

FIA: Video clearly showed Oliver Bearman completing his qualifying lap before the red flag lights turned on. Yet, you guys used some so called fancy timing equipment to state Bearman crossed the line after the red flag was initiated. Here's the problem. Either you were wrong or you have a major, major safety problem if the red flag was out for approximately five seconds before any lights went on. You can't have it both ways.

F2: American Jak Crawford took his second starting spot with the sprint race reverse grid, took the lead at the start and never looked back for the win. Irishman Alexander Dunne started fifth in the feature race and used strategy and great on track passes to win and take the points lead.

F3: German Tim Tramnitz also went from second to first in the reverse grid sprint race format to win. In the feature race, Mexican Santiago Ramos bided his time waiting for the pole sitter's tires to go off before pouncing for a tactical win in the feature race.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Ciao.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 124 -- Red Bull is now the winningest team in the 21st century, surpassing the 123 wins by Ferrari with Mercedes at 120.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: If you think the name of this race was a mouthful, the very first F1 world championship race, 75 years ago (May 13 to be exact), was officially called the Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d'Europe Incorporating the British Grand Prix. Whew. Alfa Romeo swept the podium: Nino Farina, Luigi Fagioli, and Reg Parnell. They were the only drivers on the lead lap. Everyone else was at least two laps down.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: From @klaasm67:

What a drive! Franz Hermann wins the Grand Prix of Imola! #gpimola #F1

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: An unhappy Charles Leclerc on the radio, "This is unbelievable. All the time I get fucked with these virtual safety cars."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Fernando Alonso also upset on the radio over the timing of the VSC, "Yeah, it's going to be torture. It's a wreck. I'm the unluckiest driver in the fucking world."

SCHEDULE: We don't see Charles Leclerc repeating another dream win at home, but who knows. It's Monaco. Anything can happen.

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