THE BIG PICTURE: It's easy to say it's the car because in F1 that's usually closest to the truth. But the great ones (Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton, Verstappen) can also take that car when it's not at it's best and still win with it when their teammates (Barrichello, Bottas, Perez), only capable of winning when it all goes right, cannot.

EVENT: Love places where general admission seating is just as good, if not preferable, to grandstand seating. It creates a much better and fun atmosphere.

TRACK: Old style in every sense of the word. Virtually no places to commit out of bounds infractions, seats built into hills instead of proper grandstands, private houses overlooking the circuit, and the old style control/press tower which is slanted towards the start/finish line built for practicality not hospitality.

QUALIFYING: Despite being lost on every single practice session, Verstappen and Red Bull still got pole, though Perez fails in Q2. Ferrari looked like they were the team to beat, but they couldn't beat McLaren never mind Red Bull. Piastri gets a front row spot but then the Stewards caught up to him. Once again Tsunoda is solid as is Hulkenberg, Ricciardo actually makes it to Q3, and Alonso's failure actually started in FP3.

RACE: Seemingly a processional race and then, BAM, the last 20 laps happened which had you on the edge of your seat even if in the end nothing changed.

START: The front row has a great getaway, but Norris has to worry about the Ferraris more than trying to get Verstappen, Stroll and Ocon go side-by-side for a while, and Ricciardo begins to drop.

VERSTAPPEN: He can win in the virtual world. He can win in the real world. Is there any other world Max can win in?

PEREZ: The team's strategy didn't help, but Sergio's weekend performance did not exactly come at a good time as Red Bull needs him more than ever to grab points. Lots of points.

RED BULL: When was the last time they struggled with upgrades?

NORRIS: A brilliant use of his tires. A brilliant last 20 laps. Just ran out of laps. This time...

PIASTRI: The grid penalty, which was well deserved, killed the race for Oscar.

MCLAREN: The good news is, they are truly getting there. The bad news is, this will soon result in having to handle two great drivers looking to establish themselves as number one now that they know they can win.

LECLERC: Initially looked like the one to make the charge, but petered out before Norris had to worry about him.

FERRARI: Has there ever been so many upgrades which amounted to so little?

HAMILTON: Looking through his contract to see if he can get out now...

RUSSELL: Looking through his contract to see what happens if they bring in Andrea Kimi Antonelli...

MERCEDES: At this rate, their prime open seat will be sour.

STROLL: Surprising race considering how poorly Aston Martin looked all weekend.

ALONSO: Talk about hot brakes.

TSUNODA: Again, impressive.

RICCIARDO: Sorry Daniel, getting closer to your teammate doesn't cut it when you're supposed to prove you are superior to him in order to deserve a promotion.

MAGNUSSEN: Behaved himself.

ALBON: Most likely he knew the Red Bull seat was not available to him. So at that point, where else would he go? Despite this year's setbacks, behind the scenes this team is setup for longterm success better than some other backmarkers (can you say Alpine?).

F2: The sprint race started with a multicar crash precipitated when Andrea Kimi Antonelli balked at the start. It ended with Argentine Franco Colapinto making a brilliant outside pass on the last lap for the win. Oliver Bearman's early feature race lead evaporated when he stalled not once, but twice during his mandatory pit stop. Frenchman Isack Hadjar took the win.

F3: A wild finish to the sprint race when Noel León timed his VSC restart perfectly with just two corners to go, jumping into the lead. However, he was penalized for an earlier safety car infraction, handing the win back to German Oliver Goethe. In the feature race, Frenchman Sami Meguetounif went from third to first.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Almost.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 8 -- The number of consecutive poles won by Max Verstappen, tying the record held by Aryton Senna, who died at Imola 30 years ago this month.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The last time the tifosi got to celebrate a podium at Imola was 2006. Not just a podium, but a win. It was called the San Marino GP at the time. Michael Schumacher took victory from pole in very similar fashion -- losing a large lead due to tire graining, with Fernando Alonso (Renault) catching him but unable to pass on the narrow circuit, until he ran wide, sealing his fate. Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes) took third. Alonso won his second consecutive title that year.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: From the @TheMcLarenZone: McLaren have scored more podiums in 10 months [13] than they did in 10 seasons from 2013 - 2022 [11].

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Like an addict, once you get that first hit (win), you have to have more, as Lando Norris explains, "It's frustrating not to win. It feels more painful now!"

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Ferrari's Fred Vasseur on whether the Mercedes has made progress the last few races, "The Mercedes? They were 28 seconds behind Charles at the end of the race, so yes, I think they got a little closer."

SCHEDULE: Monaco. Say what you want about it, but we can't imagine F1 without Monaco.

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