Imola (dpa) – Imola, the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna. Tens of thousands of tifosi. A home race for Ferrari. But will world championship leader Charles Leclerc achieve the next win of the season? It’s going to be exciting, also because one thing is already becoming clear: it probably won’t go without incidents.
Two Red Bull and two Ferrari in the first two rows: Verstappen secured first place. The world champion won the sprint race, even if he lost his pole after a few meters against Leclerc. Can the Monegasse overtake in the Ferrari again in the first few meters? Verstappen will certainly not mess up the start again. And from behind he could literally get third-placed team-mate Sergio Perez to back him up. Leclerc’s stable rival Carlos Sainz is fourth. In short: the two best teams fight with their drivers in the first meters.
Ferrari seemed almost untouchable
Tire and reliability question: Ferrari seemed almost untouchable before the Imola weekend. Leclerc won two out of three races, clearly leads the rankings and also drove towards victory in the sprint until the tires wore out. More than the rubber of the same mixture on the Red Bull. “If we can get a grip on that, we’ll fight for victory,” said Leclerc: “I’m pretty sure of that. If not, it will be a little more difficult.” However, it remains to be seen whether Red Bull has gotten the car’s reliability issues under control after two Verstappen failures in three races. A Verstappen’s reaction to another failure could be memorable.
Schuhmacher-Junior fights for first points
Mick Schumacher’s fight for the first Formula 1 points: it could be time. In his 25th Formula 1 Grand Prix, the son of record champion Michael Schumacher will definitely start the race from a points position. As tenth in the sprint race, he left Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin (13th) and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes (14th) behind. Together, the two have eleven world titles (4 Vettel, 7 Hamilton).
The suffering of Mercedes: It’s a tough time for the former industry leader. Mercedes is at best mediocrity. At least as far as the performance in Imola was concerned. So Hamilton was only 14th in the sprint race. “There’s nothing I can do,” he said. George Russell Eleventh. Points are the minimum for Sunday’s race, said team boss Toto Wolff: “And we know that’s not nearly what we expect.”
The weather: Rain on Friday, a chaotic qualification with several interruptions. Dry track on Saturday, and yet there is also a safety car phase in the sprint race on the 4.909-kilometre circuit in the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. The prediction for the race: Tendency showers – so it could be turbulent.