RacingNews365's F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix driver ratings

The seventh round of the 2024 Formula 1 world champion took place at Imola, host of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen prevailed - just - to take his 59th career win while Lando Norris starred as he narrowly missed out on back-to-back trips to the top step.

While the top two enjoyed a highly successful weekend, difficulties befell the likes of Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez, who enjoyed nightmare events.

But how did all of the drivers fare across the weekend? RacingNews365 has weighed in with our driver ratings.

The top five

Max Verstappen - 9.5

For the first time in a long time, Red Bull and Verstappen looked under real pressure. With a tight margin in qualifying, and an even tighter gap in the grand prix, Verstappen just held on to take the race victory - using his experience and in-car abilities to fend off Norris across the line for his sixth win of the season.

Lando Norris - 9.5

Norris was narrowly out-paced by team-mate Oscar Piastri on Saturday but gained an advantage when the Australian was demoted on the starting grid. After looking as though he would have to settle for second, Norris delivered new-found speed in the final laps to challenge Verstappen to the chequered flag. Riding on a wave of confidence from his Miami win, Norris has stepped up his game.

Charles Leclerc - 8.5

Ferrari was clearly the third-fastest team last weekend around Imola, but despite its limitations, Leclerc seemed to get the most out of his package. Starting and finishing third, the Monegasue driver was just seven seconds behind Verstappen at the chequered flag, leaving Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur confident over its chances for the rest of the season. 

Oscar Piastri - 8

Piastri's weekend could have turned out so much better if it were not for a grid drop, a situation that unfolded through no fault of his own. Piastri recovered one position after moving ahead of Carlos Sainz in the pit stop phase of the race, but with the pace so even between the top three teams, it was difficult for the McLaren driver to make inroads on his rivals ahead. However, his star performance is qualifying could well be a sign of things to come.

Yuki Tsunoda - 8

RB's strategy of pitting Tsunoda early managed to get him ahead of Haas' Nico Hulkenberg, and from there, the Japanese driver worked hard to salvage a point for the team. His weekend highlight was undoubtedly his qualifying performance which saw him jump to seventh place at the end of Q3.

The bottom five

Pierre Gasly - 5.5

Alpine adopted a two-stop strategy that ultimately failed to produce any goods - with no safety car, it was forced to contend with the massive pit stop loss en route to 16th, matching Gasly's worst result of the campaign. 

Logan Sargeant - 5.5

Under huge pressure amid doubts over his future in F1, Sargeant managed to keep his Williams out of the barrier during the weekend. However, there were few positives to note from his event at Imola, with his running position in the race ahead of team-mate Alex Albon more down to the issues that hit his car.

Valtteri Bottas - 5

Bottas was a non-player throughout the weekend from Imola - although he out-paced team-mate Zhou Guanyu in qualifying, a Q1 exit in P16 was followed by a slump down the order to 18th - and last of the drivers to see the chequered flag - capped off a difficult weekend for the 10-time grand prix winner.

Fernando Alonso - 4.5

It was a rare off weekend for Alonso, who found himself in the barriers during FP3. The difficulties continued during qualifying as he found himself out in Q1, with Aston Martin treating the remainder of the weekend as a test session before opting to retire the car in the final laps.

Sergio Perez - 4

A worrying event for Perez seemed to echo the challenging rounds he endured on numerous occasions last year. A failure to advance into Q3 and a lack of pace in the race en route to eighth place, all while team-mate Verstappen took pole and the win, was poor showing from the Mexican driver.