Massive collision, red flags and a stopped race. That was the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna

We have historically witnessed many heart attacks at the Imola race circuit. And today’s race was no exception. How did this Grand Prix turn out and what did it bring?

The Imola circuit is one of seven tracks where the race is run counter-clockwise. The sun has been shining on the track during the race weekend so far, but Sunday’s race started under overcast skies and on wet tarmac.

The adverse conditions at this particular Italian circuit almost always promise a very interesting spectacle, as the warm-up lap proved when Charles Leclerc went off the track even at relatively low speed.

Especially the start of the race brought a big change in the standings, with Max Verstappen getting ahead of Lewis Hamilton thanks to a fantastic manoeuvre. Right at the start, the Safety Car took to the track due to a collision between Canadian Latifi and Nikita Mazepin in the Haas car.

Driving behind the Safety Car, Mazepin’s teammate Mick Schumacher failed to control his Haas and crashed into the wall, losing his front wing. However, the entrance to the pits was closed for the next two laps by the race directorate, forcing the son of the famous legend to wait until he could pit for repairs to his car.

The drivers waited for the ideal time to change from intermediate tyres to dry conditions. The one who was dropping significantly down the order at this point was Pierre Gasly. This was because he had wet tyres on his monopost and was having great difficulty keeping the car on the track.

On lap twenty-four, Sebastian Vettel received a ten-second stop/go penalty and dropped down to seventeenth. The McLarens and Ferraris, on the other hand, had great pace.

However, on lap thirty there was a big crash between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell. The Finnish Mercedes driver pushed the British driver to the edge of the tarmac.

Russell drove his Williams onto the wet grass and subsequently failed to control his formula, shooting Bottas down. Both drivers then just hit the wall at the Tamburello corner, causing massive damage to their cars.

Due to this accident, red flags were displayed and the race was stopped! After the restart, Lando Norris in the McLaren took second place, overtaking Leclerc.

Hamilton, on the other hand, dropped to ninth place after his mistake caused him to go off track and damage his front wing.

On lap 38, Sergio Pérez spun in the chicane of Villeneuve. The Mexican Red Bull driver rather struggled through the race and was unable to build on his great performance from Saturday’s qualifying. Pérez himself, however, admitted that he is still getting to grips with his Red Bull and it’s not quite there yet.

Hamilton, however, started his pursuit run and thanks to a small gap, he was able to get ahead of both Ferraris to third place. The seven-time champion was heroically defied by Norris for several laps. With three laps to go, Hamilton overtook Norris to finish the race in second place. He also went on to set the fastest lap of the race.

Verstappen, who did a brilliant job and together with Hamilton leads the championship standings, can rejoice in his victory. Verstappen, Hamilton, Norris – that’s what the podium looked like.

Fourth and fifth place go to both Ferraris, with Daniel Ricciardo in sixth. Lance Stroll’s seventh place is certainly a good result for Aston Martin given the way the race weekend went. Pierre Gasly crossed the line eighth in the standings despite a poor start.

Kimi Räikkönen finished ninth, with Esteban Ocon in the Alpine F1 car rounding out the top ten, followed by his teammate Fernando Alonso ahead of the struggling Pérez. Yuki Tsunoda did not have the best weekend, finishing in thirteenth position.

The second Alfa Romeo car can be found in position number fourteen. Italian driver Antonio Giovinazzi must have imagined a better final result, as his performance in Imola was certainly not bad. And the last two positions belong to the Haas drivers.

With a lap to go, Sebastian Vettel withdrew from the race due to gearbox problems. We can see the “out” mark in the results list for Bottas, Russell and Latifi.

Russell must be very upset. He’s kept his Williams on points for a long time, but their failure to score points for the Williams stable continues. We’ve had a great show, Imola is a very specific circuit and as we’ve announced in previous articles, if you add to that the adverse conditions. Well, we have seen for ourselves.

“Especially in the beginning of the race it was very difficult to keep the car on the track.”

the 23-year-old Dutchman in the service of Red Bull showed a really good performance and a great start

Verstappen’s and Norris’ qualities were acknowledged by Hamilton himself. Norris also acknowledged that Hamilton’s speed was too fast. But he appreciated the result of the race, especially after Saturday’s qualifying.

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