Giddy up, a triple header of classic Euopean F1 tracks is about to go lights out, starting with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Italy (Or, if you want to get technical, the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Gran Premio Del Made in Italy E Dell'Emilia Romagna... We will go with the Imola GP)
The Imola GP will take place over 63 laps on the 4.9 kilometer Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (again, we will just refer to it as Imola) on Sunday morning/afternoon depending where you live.
After a week off, multiple teams; mainly Ferrari and Mercedes, will bring upgrades to Imola in hopes of turning their seasons around and start cutting into Red Bulls seemingly insurmountable lead.
At the moment rain looks like a threat to cancel anywhere from one session, to the entire weekend. Bummer, but lets hope for the best. A wet race could actually be a good thing for the 9 teams that don't have an energy drink sponsor, but those bringing upgrades may not get to test their cars to full capacity. Stay tuned for more updates on the weather
Another new wrinkle being introduced this week: Pirelli are testing a new rule that mandates the use of every tyre compound in qualifying. So instead of everyone going out on softs, each will be required to run hards in Q1 and mediums in Q2, softs in Q3. I personally think it would be more entertaining if teams could choose which session they use each tyre, only making it mandatory that they use all three if they in fact make it through to Q3. This would give the likes of Logan Sargeant and Nyck De Vries a better chance of moving into Q2 by using softs in Q1, while Verstappen could get the Hards out of the way and still make it through.
But alas, I digress. This will also affect the amount of each compound drivers are provided with, most notably going from the usual 8 soft sets for a weekend, to just 4 sets. They will also reduce the total amount of tyres from 13 to 11 (4 softs, 4 mediums, 3 hards instead of 8 softs, 3 mediums, 2 hards).
In an effort to make the Mediums and Hards less of a handicap, Pirelli will bring the 3 softest compounds to Imola (Of the 5 slicks they offer), making the "Hard" tyre more of a Medium. Make sense? Still following?
One more wrinkle: Pirelli will ALSO be bringing a new Wet tyre compound to Imola that doesn't require the use of thermal blankets before use. With the current weather forecast we will undoubtedly see this compound make an appearance as well.
Ok, enough tyre talk... Moving on.
Weekend Schedule (Eastern Standard Time)
Weather Forecast
Not looking good! Just now, images and video are emerging showing high levels of water inside the circuit confines. And up to 100mm of further rainfall is predicted in the next 24 hours. Yikes. The concern is less about what conditions will be like on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, more so when the track should be usable, and the potential problems that could be caused before then if there is significant flooding. This will be monitored by the race organizers and F1 with further updates likely over the next 24 hours.
Betting Odds
Here are the odds-on top-ten favourites. As per usual Max Verstappen pays less than 2-1 to win the race, but the rest of the board has some tasty offerings. Especially if the weather is as much of a factor as it seems it will be.
Prediction
Would I LOVE to see Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc win this weekend? Absolutely. Do I think it will happen? No.
Anything other than a Red Bull 1-2 would be shocking at this point, even if the weather gets nasty. That being said, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are notoriously great drivers in the rain, as are a few others (George Russell comes to mind). So that third podium spot really is up for grabs. Hard not to pick Alonso for it, but it's nice to at least have hope for a weekend that isn't a total runaway. Rain is the great equalizer in F1, so even if Red Bull have the pace, they could get some unlucky breaks with a safety car or someone accidentally taking them out. If there were a race to pick a long shot (and by that I just mean a non Red Bull) this would be the week.
My top-five:
1 - Verstappen
2 - Perez
3 - Alonso
4 - Hamilton
5 - Russell
What do you think?! Let me know on Twitter @HardorSoftF1 or in the comments below. And check us out on Youtube!
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