Faithful F1 fans will be pleased to see Imola return to the F1 calendar this weekend. Last year the famed Italian venue made its first appearance on the F1 schedule in 14 years. Imola has played witness to myriad F1 history including many first poles, first wins, and Imola is also the place where Ayrton Senna tragically died in 1994. In 2021 Imola will only feature one extended DRS zone on the main straight.
Red Bull will have a positive outlook going into the weekend knowing that, despite an issue with the differential in Bahrain, they were very competitive with Mercedes. Despite the team’s recent lack of success in Italy, which some have called an Italian curse, look for Red Bull to have a shot at the win with a podium a safe bet regardless. We can expect at least one car finish in the points at AlphaTauri with the other following close behind.
Elsewhere on the grid, until they lose a race we must assume that Mercedes are still the favorites to win. The next team we can expect to see close to the front is McLaren with their strong car and strong driver lineup. The next positions will be a battle with Ferrari who had glimmers of good pace in the season opener and Aston Martin who will be looking to rebound from an underwhelming debut. Alpine will be trying their best to get in between that battle but may come up short finding it has a challenge from at least one of the Alfa Romeo cars. From there we can expect to see Williams in the mix with Alfa and Haas bringing up the rear with their (seemingly) perpetually underdeveloped car.
US TV SCHEDULE
Practice 1 – Friday, April 16 – 4.55AM – ESPN2
Practice 2 – Friday, April 16 – 8.25AM –
ESPNU
Practice 1 – Saturday, April 17 – 4.55AM – ESPN2
Qualifying – Saturday, April 17 – 7.55AM – ESPN2
Grand Prix Sunday – Sunday, April 18 – 7.30AM –
ESPN
Race – Sunday, April 18 – 8.55AM –
ESPN
CIRCUIT INFO
Direction: Counterclockwise
Turns: 19
Race laps: 63
Lap Distance: 4.909km (2.891 mi)
Race Distance: 309.049km
Longest Straight: m
Top Speed: 328kph
Average Speed: TBDkph
Lap Record:
TBD
Full throttle: 62%
Downforce Level: Medium
Cooling Requirement: Medium
Typical Strategy: 1 Stop Race
Pitlane Length: TBCm
Tyres: Hard (C2), Medium (C3), Soft (C4)
2020 RESULTS
Race Info.
Pole position: Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 1:13.609
Race laps: 63
Fast race lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:15.484
Podium
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Renault
CURRENT STANDINGS
Drivers
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 25
2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 18
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 16
4. Lando Norris, McLaren, 12
5. Sergio Perez, Red Bull, 10
6. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 8
7. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, 6
8. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 4
9. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, 2
10. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 1
11. Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, 0
12. Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo, 0
13. Esteban Ocon, Alpine, 0
14. George Russell, Williams, 0
15. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, 0
16. Mick Schumacher, Haas, 0
17. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, 0
18. Fernando Alonso, Alpine, 0
19. Nicholas Latifi, Williams, 0
20. Nikita Mazepin, Haas, 0
Constructors
1. Mercedes, 41
2. Red Bull, 28
3. McLaren, 18
4. Ferrari, 12
5. AlphaTauri, 2
6. Aston Martin, 1
7. Alfa Romeo, 0
8. Alpine, 0
9. Williams, 0
10. Haas, 0
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