Emilia Romagna GP Race Report

Sky picked up a good banner pre-race, "Someone make Ferrari great again!"  As they were out of the top ten going into the race, it was a prescient poster.  

Before the race there was a little drama, all wet: the slight possibility of rain and Williams' unable to find a leak from Albon's car prior to going to the grid.  Everyone made it around the formation lap.  Two rookies fell back two places off the start, Hadjar and Colapinto but Verstappen made it up one significant place to take the lead and did it convincingly.  

Everyone held their place cleanly for a couple of laps before LeClerc decided to try and overtake his good friend Gasly, sending the Frenchman wide, over the gravel, dramatically bouncing across it and coming back on track five places later.

After eleven laps, Norris finally made it past Russell for a podium position, but the Mercedes tyres were going off badly and he was straight into the pits with Sainz, Ocon, Lawson and Gasly for an early switch onto the Hard tyres.  Then Alonso came in with his brakes on fire and Piastri changed his strategy to pit too and it was slow.

Piastri soon began to scythe his way back up the placings.  Those at the front (Verstappen, Norris, Albon, Hadjar) were all hanging on and waiting for a Safety Car.  As he got up to 4th place, his team mate Norris pitted and came out in 7th.  Simultaneously Ocon pulled his car to a stop at the side of the track on the team's instructions and a Virtual Safety Car was called for.  This was perfect for Verstappen, slightly less so for Albon but LeClerc was swearing on the radio about how he always loses out.  Suddenly many cars were in, with unsafe releases all around.  Verstappen held the lead, ahead of Paistri, Norris, Alonso and Hadjar.

Whilst things were going well for Verstappen, his team mate Tsunoda was investigated for banging into Sainz, who was himself on the worse side of split strategy.

On Lap 46, we heard from Antonelli as he pulled off the track and onto the grass too: he had an issue.  The teams got ready in the pit lane and a full Safety Car was called for.  His car just stopped.  LeClerc was negotiating with his team over getting some new tyres, he really wanted a fresh pair of Medium instead of his current ones that were wearing out.  The maths said it was a bad idea and he promised to tidy his bedroom and do the washing up for a week.  If McLaren pitted Norris, he would definitely be behind his team mate or they could leave him out and keep him ahead of Piastri which wouldn't seem fair.  Albon didn't pit but the McLarens were past him and they decided not to risk it but he was behind LeClerc now, could he get past on fresh tyres?  The Ferrari driver was worrying on the radio about whether everyone behind him would get past straight away as his tyres were in such bad nick.  Norris was also arguing on the radio for permission to battle Piastri, commentating on the state of his tyres.

There were ten laps to go when the power was handed back over to Verstappen.  Norris and Albon were noted for a Safety Car infringement.  Norris didn't seem to be getting particularly close to Piastri and LeClerc was holding off Albon.  A lot of incidents were noted during the race with no further investigation needed.  On Lap 58, Norris made it past for second.  When Albon finally tried, he went off across the gravel of a corner and Hamilton got past too.  LeClerc let Hamilton through.  It was a terrific defensive drive from LeClerc but he was told to give the position back.  I don't think it was fair but as a Williams supporter, I'll take it.

Norris's pessimism seems misplaced, that his racecraft, along with a little luck and strategic help, is enough.  He was very despondent with his second place over the radio after.  Piastri was as excited in tone in his post-race interview as when he wins.

After a great race, surely the Imola track must return to the calendar.

Emilia Romagna GP Qualifying Report

The big news in Formula One, now feels like old news; it is all change at Alpine with a new driver and a departing team principal.  It seems Briatore is now the TP.  The Lesser-spotted Colapinto, who has done less press this season and last than he really should, has become the second driver (well, third technically and you're only allowed four per season).  Jack Doohan was still at the track and was paraded as one of  the Alpine stable's pit ponies.

There was some worry about tyres and rain but they wouldn't be the biggest troubles on the day.

Only three minutes into the first session, it was Red Flagged when Tsunoda had a huge smash.  No one wants to see this in a circuit famed for deaths in the past.  He just hit the kerb poorly and ran into the barrier at a high speed and at such an angle that the car was tipped into rolling fully around.  Somehow, he climbed out of the car by himself with no help.

It looked like Colapinto would be in trouble, as he came into the pit lane too early to queue.  His troubles wouldn't stop there though.  As the chequered flag was waved, he too had a huge smash.  It was fully nose on and looked like a big impact.  Bearman was unlucky as he crossed the line just after the Red Flag was shown.  Deciding whether he or Bortoleto was through delayed the start time of the next session.  Out went Colapinto, Lawson, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Bearman and Tsunoda.

When they did go out, it was all much more straight forward, with the minor annoyance of lots of traffic on track.  Lots of teams brought upgrades to this circuit, the Aston Martin ones really seeming to make a difference, Ferraris' less so.  At the end of the session, Sainz put in a quick lap out of nowhere in his Williams to take first.  Then Gasly went quick in the remaining Alpine and knocked out home track hero (not much mentioned about this in the media though) Antonelli.  At the last gasp, the Ferraris were sitting in 9th and 10th but both Aston Martins were on track.  They both put in good enough laps for the top 10 and knocked the prancing horses out; LeClerc was much more despondent than Hamilton afterwards.  The middle five were LeClerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Bortoleto and Colapinto.  All the Italian hope (apart from the Racing Bulls) was out.

As the only rookie in the final Qualifying session, Hadjar was putting such a great performance in that he risks being called up to the Big Team.  Norris doesn't seem to be able to challenge Piastri anymore, even Russell was able to get ahead of him; later we were shown a shot of him being propelled up into the air over a kerb but whatever the cause these things seem to bother him more than his team mate.  He criticised his Q3 performance over the season so far.  The top ten finished with Piastri on pole and then Verstappen, Russell, Norris, Alonso, Sainz, Albon, Stroll, Hadjar and Gasly.

With a Qualifying session like this, the chances of a Safety Car for the race must be high.  It would be interesting to see whether the Racing Bull, Aston Martins and Williams could stay in the points during the race.

Emilia Romagna GP Race Report

Everyone got away from the start cleanly, which was a surprise.  The Racing Bulls were the biggest losers with both cars dropping two places.  Verstappen maintained first place from Norris.

There were some early pit stops at Lap 10, with no overtakes even happening before.  Williams didn't fix their lead driver, Albon's tyre on properly and he had to make a very slow lap back to the pits.  They would get a ten second stop-go penalty for that.

There were brief glimmers of excitement; Alonso's tyres caught fire after his pit stop and Perez had a big off through the gravel.

Verstappen and Norris nearly had race, mostly manufactured excitement from the commentators.  He was over a second behind on the last lap.  We were also promised a safety car, which never materialised.  Behind them was LeClerc, a little something for the Tifosi.  Then Piastri, Sainz, Hamilton, Russell, Perez, Stroll and Tsunoda finishing the points.  

Russell got the point for Fastest Lap and Norris was Driver of the Day.  Hopefully there'll be loads of overtaking and excitement at the next race....oh, it's Monaco.

Emilia Romagna GP Qualifying Report

 The super-early silly season continued as the season reached Europe.  Newey seems closer to announcing that he will move to Ferrari, Albon is to stay at Williams and Sainz has rejected Audi/Sauber.  

All eyes were on Norris to see if could keep the momentum going from his maiden win last time out.

In the first Qualifying session, Alonso took a long trip through the gravel (newly reintroduced to replace sensors) and finished last.  Ahead of him was Magnussen, whose team mate went fastest over all.  Completely the list of those leaving Qualifying was Bottas, Sargeant and Zhou, making it drivers from five different teams.

The headline in the second session was Ricciardo out-qualifying Perez.  The Racing Bull held 10th, with the Red Bull unable to pull out a better final lap and was out in 11th.  Behind them was Ocon, Stroll, Albon and Gasly.

The final result saw Verstappen on pole, followed by both McLarens, Piastri then Norris.  However, Oscar would be given a three place penalty for impeding Magnessen later.  Behind them was LeClerc, Sainz, Russell, Tusnoda, Hamilton, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg.  Behind Verstappen, there is an interesting line-up.

Emilia Romagna GP Race Report

We switched the TV on and the umbrellas were out...there was huge potential for something a little bit interesting at this race.  Even with Verstappen and LeClerc lined up at the front of the grid, how many Red Flags would there be?  How many Safety Cars?  How many drivers would finish the race?  Will the Honda/Red Bull engines be reliable?

The track started to dry up and the drivers needed to choose which wet tire to start on.  As Hamilton was out on track investigating, he radioed in with engine problems.  The Mercedes just can't catch a break at the moment.

LeClerc has only ever won from starting in pole position (a trend which continues).  And he lost out to both Sainz and Norris off the start.  Things went from bad to worse for the Tfosi as sometime Italian Ricciardo took Sainz out at the next corner.  Ricciardo was able to get the car back on track though.   Refreshingly, this was put down as a racing incident by the stewards.

Safety Car: 1

Red Flag: 0

Unsurprisingly, Perez posed no great threat to his teammate Verstappen when the Safety Car went in.  During the calm everyone realised that Russell had made up many places from his starting position and Alonso had a great big hole in the side of his car.

The track dried out and McLaren pulled last place Ricciardo in to try slick tires.  As he set good times through the sectors, everyone pitted their drivers.  Red Bull won this with a pit stop 1.4 second quicker than Ferrari.  Bottas also had a nightmare stop.  Not quite like Hamilton, who had Ocon released on top of him and was then overtaken by Albon in his Williams for 12th place.

The race plodded on, the second rain shower (Class 0-1 according to McLaren) never arrived, Verstappen lapped Hamilton, Ricciardo came in for 97 pit stops.  LeClerc could not catch up with the Red Bulls, Norris couldn't catch up with LeClerc, Russell couldn't catch up with Norris.  Plod plod plod.   With 12 laps to go, LeClerc pitted for the soft tire to try something new.  This brought him out behind Norris, although it was only a few corners before he got passed.  Perez came in from second next for some soft tires and came out in second.  Then Verstappen.  Surely someone was going to have an awful stop or be penalised for speeding in the the pit lane?  No.  LeClerc came on to the radio regretting having chosen the soft tire over the medium.  Altogether now: non, je ne regrette rien.  The commentators began to hype up the potential of LeClerc going for second place and as they spoke, the driver hit the kerb awkwardly, spun and nudged the wall, requiring a trip to his pit for new wing and tires and came out in 9th.

Ultimately, it was a dominant weekend for Red Bull, pole position, Sprint win and third, 1 2 finish.

I was surprised to see the return of pre-podium room banter!  Co-vid has bid us farewell and now we can listen in to people in a small room not wearing masks.  They watched LeClerc's crash and analysed it.

Much was made of there being no DRS for the first 35 laps.  Would it have improved the race?  I'm not sure. It wasn't a classic and we're all being reminded why we haven't raced at Imola for while until Co-vid forced the FIA's hand.  Roll on Miami.

Emilia Romagna GP Sprint Report

With 6 Red Flags in Qualifying, what would happen in an actual race?  Lap 2 and out came the Safety Car when Zhou went over Gasly and into the wall.  

This came hot on the heels of an explosive start with LeClerc taking Verstappen off the grid, with Norris pushing him hard.  Alonso, starting out 5th and everyone's shout for surprise podium, got overtaken by all and sundry.  The Mercedes couldn't make a speedy getaway to make up for their poor qualifying with both cars losing places.

Basically the Sprint meant that anyone interesting who was near the front of the grid is starting much further back and there was no real change at the front.  Ferrari will have a greater knowledge of racing on the Soft compound of tire, which hopefully they can apply for the race proper.  On the mini podium the drivers were given a maxi medal - what happened to the laurel wreaths?  Next year, a book token will be awarded.