[Official] Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 4

[broadrun96]

It was a good event, agree with the coverage may have wanted more early but by the end think that's the right race length. It didn't work out for Haas on the medium tires, everyone else now knows what the softs can do but maybe they got some good wear info for tomorrow to try to go long.

Think the DRS is hugely powerful here and a bit of a joke under 7 tenths back.

[fourWheelDrift]

Watching events this weekend I finally get why the sprint was introduced.


In the past when we have had a wet, interrupted or otherwise odd qually session it has made for an interesting and different race rather than the usual procession. With the new format when we get an odd qualifying result we let them go out for forty minutes on the Saturday to put themselves back in order so we can still have a dull and processional race.

[steve_r]

Originally Posted by fourWheelDrift

Watching events this weekend I finally get why the sprint was introduced.


In the past when we have had a wet, interrupted or otherwise odd qually session it has made for an interesting and different race rather than the usual procession. With the new format when we get an odd qualifying result we let them go out for forty minutes on the Saturday to put themselves back in order so we can still have a dull and processional race.

My dislike for sprint races has not gone away.

[bjohnsonsmith]

A clean start but Leclerc down to 4th, both Danny Ric and Sainz come together and its an FCY.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Verstappen laps Hamilton.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Leclerc pits and RBR respond by sending Perez in to pit and Verstappen now pits.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Leclerc off.

Edit:
He managed to get back on the track but he damaged the front wing and had to pit

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Verstappen but Leclerc still leads by 27 points. Great podium finish for Norris and McLaren.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Leclerc off.

Edit:
He managed to get back on the track but he damaged the front wing and had to pit

And lead to possibly THE single dumbest TV director of all time moment. Yes, let's cut away from the actual track action to show the other driver's reaction. If the guy who made that decision is allowed to vote again, never mind near a TV board, someone needs to be fired. I don't give a F what Sainz's reaction is, the action is on the track and he was in the wall. Knowing if he could pull away is THE story there.

[broadrun96]

TV production seemed to suck extra this weekend, watching cars lap not racing in the sprint while Max was charging to catch Charles and then multiple cuts to crowd, garage and generally away from action took away from the flow.

Only 2 teams with double points were Red Bull and .... Aston Martin?? Impressive with the mechanical grip from those guys this week.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

TV production seemed to suck extra this weekend, watching cars lap not racing in the sprint while Max was charging to catch Charles and then multiple cuts to crowd, garage and generally away from action took away from the flow.

Agree - at one point in the race the battle that Hamilton was in featured for lap after lap but it was a battle outside the points and whilst interesting, there were other things going on worthy of attention.

Not the greatest of races for sure - plenty of early action but it settled down and whilst commitment and focus was needed all the way from drivers, there wasn't a great deal of nail-biting from a spectator point of view.

Good to see RB so strong this weekend but the variation between them and Ferrari has swung from track to track so far - Miami could be the other way around. It would be great if Mercedes can get into a competitive situation with the other two but we at least have two competitive teams going hard at each other.

[chunterer]

I really think the Alfa might be the car with most potential behind RB and Ferrari.
Need to turn up the qualy settings somehow but by geez it's a helluva race car and kind on tyres.

Mclaren are getting back to where they ought to be.
Alpine seemed to go backwards big time.

[bathurst77]

Did they ever explain why they waited til over half distance before enabling DRS?

Oh well, it was the same for everyone, and at least anyone who wants DRS abolished got a taste of what that could be like
(edit: yes I know the cars would be designed around and team tactics and driving styles etc would be different)

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by bathurst77

Did they ever explain why they waited til over half distance before enabling DRS?

Oh well, it was the same for everyone, and at least anyone who wants DRS abolished got a taste of what that could be like

Was it actually better when it was enabled though? There were overtakes (by racing drivers) before it was enabled...

[S griffin]

First RBR 1-2 since 2016! They need to make sure their reliability issues are sorted out now

First mistake by Leclerc this year, but that shows how hard he was pushing. Good recovery after though

What a drive from Russell though

[TrapezeArtist]

I feel sorry for Leclerc, though he did bring it on himself. I think most of us who have ever raced have done something similar.

[BertMk2]

Given all the fuss that has been made about the Haas being a Ferrari clone they're not exactly doing that well are they? If they didn't have Magnussen they'd be pretty much nowhere.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Given all the fuss that has been made about the Haas being a Ferrari clone they're not exactly doing that well are they? If they didn't have Magnussen they'd be pretty much nowhere.

Not really, the only thing that shines in the whole program has been Magnussen. I wouldn't be surprised if he's looked at by other programs and sticks around a bit longer.

Alfa seems to be the better Ferrari clone but Bottas is no slouch as we have seen the last few years

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Alfa seems to be the better Ferrari clone but Bottas is no slouch as we have seen the last few years

The Alfa looks pretty decent and Bottas we know can be quick - the trouble is he gets stuck in traffic and can't make progress, he caught George Russell yesterday and then couldn't get past even with DRS.

[Sodemo]

With a handful of laps left I was surprised that LeClerc decided to pit to replace his wing when it looked like only the endplate was damaged.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

The Alfa looks pretty decent and Bottas we know can be quick - the trouble is he gets stuck in traffic and can't make progress, he caught George Russell yesterday and then couldn't get past even with DRS.

Yeah, that became the only real battle on track late but was worth it. Every time he would get to 6 tenths or so but couldn't get that last bit of speed, must have had the wet track downforce turned up. But it was a good battle even if no pass happened

[Aysedasi]

Russell put up an excellent defence, placing his car perfectly but defending quite fairly. I do wonder what's going through George's mind, seeing his esteemed team leader running so far behind him.

[chillibowl]

while i like this track and the atmosphere i admittedly struggled to follow along with this race.

the wet track and the lack of DRS while it was drying out was the right choice even if it was overly cautious but had they allowed for it there probably would have been an off and a SC.

but i guess what really has me thinking was why there was a lack of overtaking after DRS was enabled? certainly there was a different feel to that last stint then to the Sprint race a day earlier where the DRS zones looked really overpowered.

the cars being able to follow more closely puts them in a train but then are the cars too big/track to narrow to chance any off line move?

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

but i guess what really has me thinking was why there was a lack of overtaking after DRS was enabled? certainly there was a different feel to that last stint then to the Sprint race a day earlier where the DRS zones looked really overpowered.

That is a good question. I was not able to watch sprint qualifying, so I can't comment about the different between Sat and Sun. But it seemed to me that when there was no DRS, there was a train of cars that were unable to pass each other. Then when DRS was enabled, they all (except first?) had DRS and again their performance was again generally equal. I guess the question is once DRS was enabled, why they couldn't get past whoever was up front? I am sure someone was following the race much more closely and comment on what was going on.

Overall, I found it interesting that in most ways, DRS didn't impact the race much. That there was passing with and without DRS. But it was also mixed conditions. It would be interesting to see if things played out the same if it was a fully dry race.

Richard

[P38 in workshop]

I like Imola,always have in spite of the memories of 1994, and was glad to see it restored to the calendar.I can't escape the feeling that the current cars are just too large for the place and maybe several other venues.