Quali was such a farce. Red flags for looking at a barrier the wrong way. Tho how was Albon not shown a black and white flag or ordered to pull off instead of spreading burning and melting carbon fibre around ⅔ of the track. Joke man.

 

 

5th is solid for Nando. Good place for us to start the sprint from given Nandos sprint history. Absolutely thrilled to see the Mercs bomb out. Long may it continue to expose the fraud for what he is

I think that qualifying session broke a record for the most red flags in a qualifying session?

Yes I think you're right, there was 4 in Baku last year & in Brazil many years ago. They were far too trigger happy with red flags particularly Magnussen's.

The sprints are too long I think. Should be an actual sprint. 10 laps (max 15 of a short track like A1 Ring). DRS use is free but limited to 15 activations total. Everyone starts on “sprint tyres” that will let them go full attack for the full distance.

 

 

Then that would be fun and worth watching

As much as I want Leclerc to win the Grand Prix tomorrow - Ferrari at home and all that - I'm glad Max won the sprint as it preserves pole position.

 

Otherwise I can only assume our Italian TV director hates Mick Schumacher, who spent half the sprint in a full on duel with Vettel whilst we watched an unchallenged Leclerc on his own. The moment Mick passes Seb the camera picks up the following pack.

 

Unfortunately, this sprint has largely shaken the order back to what we might've expected before rain made qualifying unusual. Whilst it wasn't exactly dull it has more than likely gone some distance towards making the actual race duller.

 

Great to see Alesi though

I thought it was a nice watch and passed quite quickly, previous times I thought the so-called-sprint did drag a lot

but this time it was not that bad but maybe it's cos of the pass on Leclerc at the end

Edited April 24, 20223 yr by Bjork

It's currently raining steadily at Imola and the forecast says it's not likely to lessen for the GP. Fingers crossed

oh boo Sainz very unlucky in that start :/ both Sainz and Alonso out, not a very good day for Spain :/

boring race and quite disappointed with Leclerc, his first mistake of the season

 

I kinda enjoyed more the sprint on Sat than the proper race

Yep, as I feared, the sprint ruined the race.

 

Nice to see drivers being forced in to making real overtakes though not DRS gifts, that I did enjoy. Even when enabled the amount of passing didn't change significantly and it only served to spoil previously good drives. Vettel drove a great race only to be robbed by DRS.

 

Red Bull driver pairing is starting to look like the strongest on current form, which is a real surprise

 

Would've liked to have seen Leclerc actually fight to make those places back too.

Edited April 24, 20223 yr by Severin

a 10 for both Red Bull and Verstappen and also Perez. They were the best on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

 

a very good race for Norris and Russell, not half bad for Magnussen and Bottas, although him not passing Russell in the final laps with a much better car reminded me of bad Bottas.

 

disappointing race for Ferrari/Leclerq, with his first big error of the season.

 

terrible race for Schumacher. Magnussen is putting him to shame.

 

a 0 for Hamilton, no punch, nothing. As De la Rosa said, Hamilton doesn't believe in the car so he doesn't even try. Being lapped by Verstappen, enough said.

Emilia-Romagna Review

 

Best driver:

Worst driver:

Best team:

Worst team:

Best overtake:

Worst overtake:

Best moment:

Worst moment:

Best thing about the race:

Worst thing about the race:

 

And the race in a sentence:

Best driver: Verstappen

Worst driver: Ricciardo

Best team: Red Bull

Worst team: Alpine

Best overtake: Russell on Magnussen

Worst overtake: Hamilton on Alonso

Best moment: Russell passes Magnussen

Worst moment: DRS enabled

Best thing about the race: Seeing drivers forced to try new ideas to earn their overtakes

Worst thing about the race: It could have been brilliant if the sprint hadn't happened

 

And the race in a sentence: Red Bull humbles prancing horse in its own backyard

Great to see Seb get some points - was gutted when Tsunoda got by but the Aston was a lot higher than I expected

 

Mad to think how much Lewis struggled. I watched the highlights and the commentators stated this is where the car is at - which I thought was odd as George was in 5th at the time!

 

Great to see Max win and for Red Bull (my home team) get a 1-2. Rare mistake from Charles but he recovered well at least.

 

 

Best driver: Verstappen [faultless and dominated the weekend]

Worst driver: Schumacher [very scruffy, too many spins]

Best team: Red Bull [first 1-2 in nearly 6 years is a mad stat]

Worst team: Alpine [unlucky with Alonso but still another retirement & screwed up Ocon with the pit release]

Best overtake: Russell on K-Mag [second attempt]

Worst overtake: Russell on K-Mag [first attempt]

Best moment: Norris taking a surprise podium

Worst moment: Sainz taken out through no fault of his own [my partner a huge Sainz fan was raging for at least 20 mins]

Best thing about the race: The wet-dry start made it an exiting first few laps

Worst thing about the race: Race director taking ages to deploy DRS by which time it was too late and DRS trains just kept occurring

 

And the race in a sentence: Leclerc finally cracks whilst Max fully attacks

I don't think the Merc is as bad as 14th place. it's the third or fourth best car out there depending on circuit and conditions. Russell had the car in a position it belonged (with Sainz and Ricciardo were out of the equation) but there was a strong difference in set up on the 2 Mercs. Lewis was running a much bigger wing and had more drag because of it. His straightline speed would have been slower than George's. Secondly, Lewis was unlucky that he was blocked (and hit) due to an unsafe pit release and he was never able to run in free air like George could and the Mercedes has always been designed to run at the front. This would definitely have hampered him more than George, giving him greater tyre deg and potential overheating, although i don't think the latter occurred due to the low temperature yesterday. For all Lewis' good fortune down the years he's been unlucky in the main this year.

 

That said, I think there's some truth to what others have been saying about how he's unaccustomed to dealing with a car that handles poorly. It was evident at times last year and is more pronounced in 2022. He will adapt but it will take time. The more relevant issue seems to be the question of whether his heart is still in it. After the crushing disappointment of Abu Dhabi and the realisation that this year he will be resigned to fighting for the odd podium, at best, I can't say I would be surprised to see him quit. He must surely be thinking that last year might have been his last chance to hold the most titles outright.

 

Anyone who's being objective would acknowledge he's a great driver and a worthy multiple champion but he's always been dogged by the question of how much the car and the quality of his team mates factored in those titles over the last ten years. And whilst Russell's great, the jury remains out on his full talent and I don't think anyone would yet compare him to an in his prime Lewis. Meanwhile, Lewis, on current form, is looking very much like the post retirement, injury hampered, unmotivated and aged Schumacher, just with more sulking.

If he can't turn it around he needs to step away from the car and let someone else drive it before he diminishes his memory.

 

At 37 years old, Lewis must know it is only downhill from here and he doesn't need to emulate Piquet, Mansell, Schumacher, Raikkonen or Vettel by clinging on past their prime and making up the numbers. (I purposely left out Alonso as he still has something he feels he needs to prove and is arguably driving as well as ever at times)

Edited April 25, 20223 yr by Severin

A very fair post there. I see already there's a narrative going round that George is dominating already but in reality it's 2-2 on race pace (bear in mind George only jumped Lewis in Oz thanks to the safety car timing). One worrying thing for Lewis though is when he has a bad weekend it's AWFUL which has happened twice now already. How much permanent psychological scarring lingers from Abu Dhabi will always be on the mind from now as long as it keeps occuring.

 

Another notion I've read is that with Mercedes being in the midfield it'll suit George more as he's more used to it, scrapping for positions and dragging the most out of ordinary machinery. I'm sure if Merc were at the front Hamilton would be the one comfortably on the top but even as an ardent Lewis fan I'll admit he's not amongst the elite when it comes to midfield battling (mind you none of the usual GOAT contenders are because they were usually at the front!) The only remotely comparable season to this for Lewis is 2009 where it was only when McLaren finally caught up in second half of the season that he regained top form.

 

I'm gassed for George though. The jury may still be out of course but he's maximised absolutely everything so far (only driver to finish top 5 every race) and I don't think he really could have had a better start to life at Mercedes. When Lewis does hang up his helmet British representation is still in excellent hands with George & Lando.

Do you guys think Lewis Hamilton is done as a World champion potential driver? one thing I would say is that it provides more of an opportunity for younger and less accomplished drivers to go for the top prizes.

I think the potential is still there but the circumstances need to be perfect for him now, like Mansell or Hill at Williams. Comfortable in the team, seen as number one driver and with the best machinery. Lewis will never again be as good as he was and won't ever again be better than he is now. His outright pace has been slowly decreasing for a few years but his consistency, awareness and racecraft were vital to his last titles. Now they are beginning to decline too and his only real 'against the odds' title was in 2008

 

 

If he was in -

 

Ferrari - right now he'd struggle against Leclerc for pace but win on racecraft. He'd beat Sainz

Red Bull - beats Perez but loses to Verstappen

McLaren - beat Ricciardo but tough fight with Norris. His experience will make the difference

Mercedes - I expect him to come good at some point but Russell will give him a hard time

 

Of the rest? Only Gasly, Alonso and Vettel might give him a challenge if he can keep motivated to run in midfield. Bottas would only get closer as Lewis' reactions go

 

 

In short, unless Mercedes can stabilise that car and make it a second a lap faster than the other top teams, he's done. I don't see him moving anywhere else worthwhile and next year he will only decline more and Russell will gain. If he can prove me wrong I will be massively impressed

Edited April 25, 20223 yr by Severin

I think the main problem is that Hamilton is not used to fight for 10th position

Like Alonso or Tsunoda and doesnt have the motivation to fight for just 1 or 2 points