Here’s what we learned in Imola.

More Lawson misfortune

Once again, Lawson’s whole weekend came down to something completely outside of his control.

Two separate red flags – for respective crashes to Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto – left the Kiwi unable to better his first qualifying lap, and started 15th as a result. Just 0.123s stood between Lawson and a place in Q2, and he was already faster than his first attempt at the time he was forced to abort his last lap.

From there, with Imola’s tight nature, overtakes were always going to be tough. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli retiring in front of him at the very least saw Lawson gain one place in the finishing order, but anything other than that was always going to be an ask.

However, it only adds another footnote in what’s been hiccup after hiccup in qualifying for Lawson this year.

In China, he was caught in traffic at the last corner. Bahrain saw a fault with his DRS, while a battery issue dogged Lawson in Miami.

Yes, there does need to be an air of accountability on Lawson’s part. But, given how tight this year’s field actually is, the Kiwi needs to be judged at his best, not his worst.

Hadjar the real deal

So much of this year’s narrative around Lawson and Red Bull has been flipped on its head these past few weeks.

While the central focus earlier in the season was about Lawson v Tsunoda, the rise and rise of Isack Hadjar cannot be ignored.

The 20-year-old continues to show class that belies his seven grands prix worth of experience.

With an eighth-placed finish in Japan and a 10th in Saudi Arabia, Hadjar has beaten Lawson at every time of asking since his move back to Racing Bulls.

While that narrative was Lawson v Tsunoda, Lawson v Hadjar has, unfortunately, become one-way traffic. Pinpointing Lawson’s struggles on a lack of time in the car is no longer a valid excuse.

Depending on what you want to believe about Red Bull’s senior driver pairing, the two Racing Bulls cars will be battling for the rest of 2025 to prove their worth to the likes of Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko.

So, if Lawson has aspirations of getting back into Red Bull in 2026, he’s now seriously on the back foot.

Lawson is underperforming, but it needs to be noted that Hadjar’s displays are clearly the sign of something special.

Time ticking for Tsunoda?

Speaking of which, Tsunoda’s form might just warrant a change before this season’s out.

Two things can be true at the same time. The Japanese driver did exceptionally well to go from starting in pit lane to claiming 10th place. However, there’s no way he can bank on scoring a solitary point, while teammate Max Verstappen is claiming race wins.

Again, Tsunoda missed out on reaching the second stage of qualifying, and managed to almost destroy his car in the process by coming off the track and crashing into the barrier.

What’s more, in the race Tsunoda wasn’t able to give McLaren’s Oscar Piastri any trouble, after a pit stop left the Australian having to make his way back up the field to put pressure on Verstappen.

Since he was parachuted into Red Bull at Lawson’s expense in Japan, Tsunoda has scored just seven points. For comparison, in that time, Verstappen has scored 88.

It’s no secret that Tsunoda’s place at Red Bull is solely at the feet of engine supplier Honda, who leave to join Aston Martin in 2026. After that, it’s anyone’s guess as to what Red Bull will do with their lineup.

The only potential saving grace for Tsunoda is the fact Red Bull have come out and said all their focus is on the drivers championship.

But now that Hadjar is continuing to present himself as a genuine alternative, don’t be surprised if Tsunoda becomes the latest driver to be described as “Verstappen’s former teammate” before year’s end.

More of the same to come

Bad news.

If you were put off by Imola not being conducive to overtakes, Monaco and Barcelona over the coming weeks won’t be too much different.

The Monaco track, which will be raced on next week, is so narrow that it’s for a long time been a given that you win the race in qualifying on Saturday.

In fact, so uncompetitive has Monaco been recently, the FIA have passed new regulations that drivers must make at least two pit stops as a way of changing things up.

In short, the modern Formula One cars are so big, that there are seldom tracks where opportunities to pass aren’t just restricted to DRS zones.

And while that will change with new regulations and smaller cars from next year, there’s still the rest of this season to get through.

Monaco miracle?

Given the pace of the Racing Bulls – even with upgrades this week –Monaco is going to be another tough weekend for the Kiwi.

However, he does have history at the famous circuit, even if it does make for mixed reading and a tad more misfortune.

In 2021, what should have been an impressive Formula Two victory that also saw him battle with Piastri was stripped for an illegal throttle map. A year later, he looked to have claimed pole position, only to have that stripped for failing to slow for a yellow flag, and handed a five-place grid penalty.

Still, from there, he went from 11th to eighth in the sprint race, on the toughest track to overtake on.

It won’t be easy – it never is – but if the right things fall his way, there’s no reason Lawson can’t have a good weekend in Monaco.

That, though, has been the case all season.

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.