Formula One returns to Europe to race for the first time since the incredible 2021 Turkish Grand Prix last October.
The Story So Far
Ferrari and Charles Leclerc return to Imola in a very dominant position in the world championship. Thanks to the poor reliability of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, Leclerc holds a 34 point lead at the top of the world championship, ahead of Mercedes new driver George Russell.
Wins in the first and third race of the season have shown Ferrari are once again the fastest car on the grid. Even without Verstappen’s reliability issues, Leclerc was pulling away from Verstappen during the Australian Grand Prix.
Further down the grid , Mercedes will be very happy with being second in the constructors. Red Bull will be hoping for better reliability this weekend as their pace looked good. Alpha Tauri will also be hoping for an improvement with reliability and poor pace hurting them as they head into their home race.
Alpine have had a good start to the season with some good consistent performances despit Fernando Alonso’s struggles last time out. McLaren will also be hoping to build off a great Australian Grand Prix. After an awful start to the season, McLaren currently sit fourth in the constructors championship thanks to a great Australian Grand Prix.
Williams and Aston Martin will also be looking to improve on a tough start to the season. They will be looking to improve quickly as both teams have aspirations of fighting in the midfield this season.
History of Imola
Formula One has been racing in Imola since 1980, with the track returning to the calendar in 2021.From 1981 to 2006, the race was called the San Marino Grand Prix and was given its own Grand Prix after being the stand in for Monza for the 1980 Italian Grand Prix.
A variety of teams succeeded in the 1980s at the track, but it was Williams who dominated in the 1990s. The team won six races at Imola over the course of eight seasons. The track experienced tragedy in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna both died at the 1994 race. The track underwent a huge amount of redevelopment to make it much safer. After the alterations, the track stayed on the F1 calendar until 2006. Throughout the 2000s, Ferrari dominated the track thanks to Michael Schumacher, with the German winning the last race at Imola in 2006.
Imola returned to the Formula One calendar in 2020. This time it has a new name, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The Grand Prix was named this because the event takes place in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. The track returned to the calendar for 2020 due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 2020 race seemed to be a pretty standard top three for the 2020 season. Lewis Hamilton was leading the race with Verstappen in second and Bottas in third. But the Red Bull car experienced tyre failure and Max had to retire from the race. It meant a surprise podium for Daniel Ricciardo, his first with Renault.
The race last year was only the second of the season, but it proved to be a preview of things to come. Lewis Hamilton started on pole, in front of both of the Red Bull cars. Heavy rain had fallen on the track prior to the race so the cars had to start on intermediate tyres.
At the race start, Verstappen took the lead of the race as he bumped wheels with Lewis Hamilton. The tricky conditions managed to catch Hamilton out as he slid onto the gravel at Tosa corner. Soon after this, Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas collided with current Mercedes driver George Russell.
Despite spinning late on in the race, Verstappen pulled away for his first win of the season with Hamilton in second. Lando Norris claimed a podium as he finished just ahead of both Ferrari’s. If the last two races are anything to go by, this years race should be an exciting one.
Track Layout
Imola is one of the best tracks on the Formula One calendar. Imola contains some exciting fast corners. The combination of Tamburello and Variante are a brilliant start to the lap. The first sector features fast paced corners before a sharp hairpin at Tosa, the corner which caught out Lewis Hamilton in last years race.
The elevation changes through the second sector make it truly magnificent to watch. The Acque Minerali corners are brilliant and test the drivers to their fullest. The hard braking zones of Rivazza require perfect timing and a good exit is needed for the long pit straight.
The pit straight is one of the best places on the track for overtaking. The DRS zone along the pit straight gives plenty of chances for some exciting wheel to wheel racing. The track is brilliant for exciting racing on one of the shorter tracks on the grid.
Predictions for the weekend
At the very top of the grid, it is hard to argue that it won’t be more of the same for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc. Leclerc and Ferrari had a clear pace advantage last time out. Leclerc was pulling away from Verstappen before he ran into engine issues so it could very easily be Ferrari’s first 1-2 since China in 2018.
Red Bull will be needing to improve their reliability as the car still looks fast. With two weeks to prepare I would imagine the team have improved. I would imagine that McLaren and Mercedes will be fighting for the spots after the top two, with Alpine finishing in the points again.
It seems a bit too soon for Williams or Aston Martin to score any points. But I think it could be a good weekend for Alpha Tauri and Alfa Romeo. Both teams have looked fast to start the season and if there are no reliability issues this upcoming weekend, they could very eaily be in for some points finishes.
Our GG 2022 Emilia Romagna Predictions
