Maximus Verstappen performance
Lewis, Norris and Emilia Romania GP 2021
Three weeks is a lot of time. In this pandemic era, three weeks can look even longer when there is not much difference between Monday and Tuesday and Sunday just never seems to come. Racing, for me, is the balance that brings realisation of Sunday. So, while three weeks is technically 21 days or 504 hours or 30,240 minutes or 18,14,400 seconds, it did feel a lot a longer. But we are here at Imola, and this weekend action didn't disappoint a bit.
I. IMOLA
Let's start with Imola and Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. This circuit is hosting a race weekend after returning to the calendar last year. This circuit is known for a lot of things. From being named after Ferrari founder Enzo and his son to the death of Ayrton Senna, this Imola circuit is infamous. Last year, when drivers got a chance to return here they all lined up to pay their tributes to Senna.
Regardless of how you remember this circuit, one thing it is definitely known for is its old school layout. It has chicanes that can punish and gravel traps that are waiting to catch you for even the smallest of mistakes. Then there is this left, right, left dance that can be punishing to your neck as well as mental strength. Here is how those chicanes are named:
Tamburello (2,3,4)
Villeneuve (5,6)
Tosa (7)
Piratella (9)
Acque Minerali (11,12,13)
Alta (14,15)
Rivazza (17,18)
With all that legendary behind, here is my analysis of Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, featuring for the second straight year after going away from the calendar in 2006.
II. Free Practice
Going into this race, one of the common themes was that Red Bull has the strongest car while Mercedes is trying to catch them. Even Valtteri Bottas went as far as to claim that they are the "hunters and not hunted". Well, honestly, I don't think that's true. Red Bull have caught up to Mercedes thanks to new regulation but it hasn't been the change enough that Mercedes are in the mirrors of RB16B all the time.
That certainly became evident during the first and second practice session when Mercedes were going along better than Red Bull. The question, on the minds of a lot of people, was whether Red Bull Racing is capable of converting it's newfound strength into success on track. While we found the answer, the red flag seemed like the order of the day. Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon incident brought the red flag at FP1. Charles Leclerc forced the red flag near the end of the session at FP2. Latifi did the honour of bringing out the red flag at FP3.
Verstappen suffered a drive shaft issue at FP2. Perez went numero uno at FP3. Mercedes struggled to hook up a good lap. Norris was flying while Ferrari looked handy at its home soil. AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo, other home teams, put on a decent show. But a lot of the drivers found it hard to negotiate the chicane without getting caught in the gravels. Even mighty Lewis Hamilton went lawn mowing. Overall, free practice was not free of incidents and data gathering didn't look top order.
III. Qualifying
Can Red Bull show their class when it matters the most? That's the question every F1 fan and pundit were asking before the start of the qualifying. But Tsunoda pushed quite a bit and hit the barrier. Yes, red flags were waved and cars drove straight back to the pit. What came after that was a shock.
Alfa Romeo dropped out of Q1 and that moment between Giovinazzi and Mazepin was reckless. Alpine brought a lot of upgrades but two-time world champion Fernando Alonso couldn't extract much out of it. Vettel's struggles continued at Aston Martin. However, when the time came for really quick laps or in other words, Q3, one Mercedes shined while another lost.
Hamilton managed to put together a tidy lap for P1 while Verstappen was good enough only for P3. Sergio Perez, in his second outing Red Bull, managed P2. Leclerc was fourth while Gasly was fifth. Lando Norris was flying but exceeded track limits to qualify P7. I've long wanted Valtteri Bottas to win the championship but his scruffy qualifying performance makes me wonder if his heart is still in it.
IV. Race Day
Rain was a constant threat at Imola and the downpour before the start of the race meant drivers had to go for intermediate or wet compounds as opposed to slicks. That meant a lot of spray, possible spin and strategy at play. Fernando Alonso spun while making his way to the grid. Drivers spun during the formation lap when the five red lights went out, Max Verstappen showed his wet masterclass.
He got an excellent getaway and made a lunge on the inside of his teammate before deciding to go on the outside and take the racing line, forcing Lewis Hamilton to take the chicane. They made contact but Verstappen came out stronger. A racing incident that anyone not named Lewis Hamilton would appreciate. Nicolas Latifi called the safety car when he spun at lap 2 and allowed the drivers to bunch up once again and Verstappen survived the threat of Hamilton snatching the lead once again.
While the battle for P1 and P2 was raging, Perez lost out to Charles Leclerc and seemed to struggle finding balance. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz made mighty progress in the second Ferrari starting P11 but midfield battle was not going to be easy. Gasly, Norris and Ferrari running almost side-by-side through the main straight was both exciting and daring for a circuit known for punishing even the brave. The race seemed to stabilize to a point where Hamilton was catching Verstappen, Leclerc was comfortable in P3 and Norris was getting up to speed thanks to team orders.
But then came the action that most people would have dreaded from the start. George Russell seemed to be flying on the back of Bottas and the Finn seemed to cover his track forcing Russell to grass and thus colliding and collecting each other. That shunt at Tamburello looked horrific but they did do favour to Lewis Hamilton, who had breached his car just a little bit earlier.
The session was red flagged and Hamilton not only got a chance to unlap himself but also fight for the podium. At the end, Max Verstappen stayed on course and won his first race of the season. At Bahrain GP, it was his race to lose and he lost. At Imola, it was Verstappen's race to win and he did it in mighty fashion. I don't think Lewis Hamilton paid for his mistake and his P2 finish was made possible by that incident involving his teammate and Mercedes protege.
Lando Norris took P3 in a mighty fashion thanks to his team's decision to use soft compound tyres and a brilliant driving during the rolling start. He could have probably kept Hamilton behind as well but not today. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished P4 and P5 while Ricciardo came P6. Stroll, Gasly, Raikkonen and Ocon finished in points. As far as eventful races are concerned, this won is right up there.
Before You Go
Thank you for reading. Happy work week and don’t forget to put on your virtual seatbelt.