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Lewis Hamilton Mahu Mencipta Ferrari F40 Moden

Juara dunia tujuh kali Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, bukan sahaja berazam mencipta kejayaan di litar lumba bersama Ferrari, tetapi turut menyuarakan hasrat untuk mereka bentuk kereta jalanan bagi jenama ikonik dari Itali itu. Dalam satu temu bual bersama Motorsport.com, Hamilton mendedahkan cita-citanya untuk menghasilkan penghormatan moden kepada model legenda Ferrari F40, satu projek yang ingin direalisasikan sepanjang tempoh perkhidmatannya dengan Ferrari.

Pemandu Britain itu, yang kini dalam musim pertamanya bersama Scuderia Ferrari, telah lama menunjukkan minat mendalam terhadap reka bentuk automotif. Ketika bersama pasukan Mercedes-AMG Petronas pada 2019, Hamilton pernah menyatakan keinginannya untuk terlibat dalam pembangunan edisi khas hypercar Mercedes-AMG One, namun projek tersebut tidak menjadi kenyataan. Bagaimanapun, semangatnya untuk meninggalkan legasi dalam dunia automotif terus menyala, kali ini di bawah naungan Ferrari.

“Salah satu impian saya ialah mereka bentuk sebuah Ferrari,” kata Hamilton ketika menghadiri Grand Prix Australia baru-baru ini. “Saya mahu mencipta model yang saya namakan sebagai F44—berinspirasikan F40, tetapi dengan pendekatan moden dan keunikan tersendiri. Ini adalah projek yang akan saya usahakan dalam beberapa tahun akan datang.”

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Lewis Hamilton Eyes Ferrari Road Car Project, Inspired by the Legendary F40

Lewis Hamilton’s aspirations at Ferrari extend beyond the Formula 1 circuit, as the seven-time world champion has expressed interest in designing a road car for the iconic Italian marque. In a recent interview with Motorsport.com, Hamilton revealed his ambition to create a modern-day tribute to the legendary Ferrari F40, a project he intends to pursue during his tenure with Ferrari.

The British driver, now in his first season with Ferrari, has long been fascinated by automotive design. Back in 2019, while racing for Mercedes-AMG Petronas, he voiced his desire to contribute to a special edition of the One hypercar, a project that never materialised. However, Hamilton remains eager to leave his mark on the automotive world, this time under the banner of Ferrari.

“One of the things I really want to do is design a Ferrari,” he stated while attending the Australian Grand Prix. “I want to do an F44—based on the F40, with an actual stick shift. That’s what I’m going to work on for the next few years.”

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F1/Round 19: Preview & Provisional Sprint Race Starting Grid For 2021 Sao Paolo Grand Prix

Sprint Race starts at 4:30 pm in Brazil/3:30 am in Malaysia (Sunday)

GP race starts 2:00 pm in Brazil/1:00 am in Malaysia (Monday)

After last weekend in Mexico City, the F1 teams continued 7,500 kms south to Brazil for Round 19 of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship. This will be the last of the three rounds in the western hemisphere which started in Texas on October 25. This round is known as the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and is held at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, usually referred to as Interlagos.

There was no race held last year due to the pandemic, so the teams have not been at the track for longer than usual. But they are familiar with it as it has been hosting F1 rounds since 1972. The events used to be called the Brazilian Grand Prix but for some reason, the organizers and FIA now use city names instead.

The short 4.309-km circuit (almost same as the circuit in Mexico City) has a tight layout which the drivers will go around for 71 laps. Its undulating sequence of mostly medium and low-speed corners have always presented tough technical challenges. It is also one of the relatively few circuits run anti-clockwise on the calendar. The short lap (around 1 minute 10 seconds) means that traffic can be an issue and there’s also a high safety car probability, so any race strategy needs to bear that in mind.

In 2019, when the last GP was held, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won with a 3-stop strategy, following 2 Safety Car appearances at the end of the race. There were 3 different strategies in the top 4, with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz (fourth at the flag) stopping just once from last on the grid. Without the Safety Cars, a 2-stop strategy would have been the favoured tactic.

“Interlagos is an old-school track that keeps drivers and tyres busy and often produces some dramatic races, as we saw last time,” said Pirelli’s Mario Isola, adding that the weather is another variable factor and it can be very hot or very wet. “As a result, this year’s more versatile tyre selection should be able to cope with all the wide-ranging demands of the race and provide some different strategies.”

For this round, as in the British GP in July and the Italian GP in September, there is also a sprint race to offer additional excitement for spectators and also a different challenge for the teams. The Sprint Qualifying Race, which was well received by the drivers, is 100 kms long. Being run over a shorter distance, drivers will be flat out from start to finish, with no pit stops needed. The best effort will be necessary as the finishing order will determine the starting positions for the main race, so there is a chance to improve on the position gained in Qualifying. There are also points for the top 3 finishers of the race.

In Qualifying, Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Sprint Race to be held on Saturday afternoon in Brazil. But because of an engine change, he will get a 5-place grid penalty for the main race on Sunday. Verstappen, who was 4/10ths of a second slower will start in second, with Valtteri Bottas in third and Serio Perez in fourth on the grid.

However, there is more tension at this time at Interlagos as both Hamilton and Verstappen have been referred to the Race Stewards for different matters. In Hamilton’s case, there is an alleged technical infringement regarding the rear wing on his car.

Verstappen could be in trouble relating to the FIA’s International Sporting Code concerning rules on working on the cars after Qualifying. Video footage shows him getting out of his car and walking to check on his own rear wing and then walking over to Hamilton’s car and also examining it and seemingly touching it. Article 2.5.1 of the Sporting Code states that ‘no operation, checking, tuning or repair is allowed’ but what sort of penalty the Red Bull driver will get remains uncertain.

At the time of writing, the rest of the world still doesn’t know the outcome but starting from the front row has proven historically important. Out of the 20 races run since 2000, 16 of them have been won by the driver who started from the front row. For Hamilton, already resigned to starting 5 places back even if he wins the Sprint Race, worse could come if the issue of the wing leads to another penalty.

As things stand after Mexico, Verstappen’s win moved him to a 19-point lead over Hamilton in the Drivers Championship. After finishing third, the other Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez, has moved closer to third-positioned Valtteri Bottas.

The double podium in Mexico for Red Bull also saw the gap narrowing to just one point in the Constructors Championship between leaders Mercedes-AMG and Red Bull Racing. The battle for third is also close after Ferrari collected a total of 18 points which moved the team ahead of McLaren with a 13.5-point advantage.

F1/Round 15: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Russian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen had to start from the back as he took a penalty, and while going on the formation lap, he had a battery problem and was concerned he might not be able to start. However, by the time he reached the starting grid, it seemed to go away.

Lewis Hamilton, starting from a few places back, was crowded as he moved forward and without room to manoeuvre, he very quickly slipped to seventh. Perhaps he was being more cautious to avoid any more unnecessary incidents…

McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had pole position, had a clean start but before Trun 2, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz had managed to catch up and slipped past to take the lead from the British driver.

The two Scuderia AlphaTauris had a poor start, dropping backwards in the field. Verstappen meanwhile was steadily slicing through traffic and moving upwards. By Lap 6, he was 14th after passing Valtteri Bottas and 18 seconds behind the leader, while his team mate was up in seventh.

Up front on lap 10, Norris was narrowing the gap to Sainz and staying in his mirrors. 7 seconds behind, Williams George Russell was watching Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who was just a second behind.

After lap 12, the drivers started to report their tyres going or gone, and visits to the pits started with Stroll being the first to do so on lap 13. Fortunately, the rain that had been expected did not arrive. Sainz came in on lap 15 and Norris, in spite of worn tyres, took over the lead.

By lap 17, Verstappen was up to sixth and just 3 places and 7 seconds ahead was his arch-rival, Hamilton. The Dutchman was pushing hard and clocking about a second quicker than the other drivers ahead of him. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was next to pass and that might require a bit more effort and then he would be behind his team mate.

Rain began to fall on lap 22 and drivers who had tried their best to stretch their tyres had to start coming in. The positions began to change and though Hamilton had moved into second, he was still 12 seconds behind the leader.

On lap 24, Verstappen again reported problems, this time that he was having difficulty turning the car. His pit stop had dropped him to 12 place when he rejoined but he was trying to move back up. Hamilton had dropped to ninth and was also not bothering about the Dutchman and just wanting to get to the front.

After most of the other drivers had changed tyres, the order had also changed with Perez in the lead on lap 34 and Alonso behind him, both still staying out. Norris, Leclerc and Hamilton were within reach of each other so the battle was on to try to secure third place but Toto Wolff was urging his driver to go for a win.

As both Perez and Alonso came in on lap 37, Norris got back his lead, with Hamilton 4 seconds behind and Alonso having dropped out for a tyre change. Behind Hamilton was Sainz, a long way away with a 22-second gap.

With 10 laps remaining of the 53-lap race, Sainz was battling to hold on to this third place while McLaren’s Danial Ricciardokept trying to displace him and Perez was waiting for the two to make a mistake that he could gain from.

8 laps from the finish, the rain started to get heavy. Though Hamilton has no problem with wet tracks, he was not finding it easy to close in on Norris who was out to collect his first-ever F1 win.

The rain caused enough concern that teams called their drivers in. The track seemed to be getting slippery and Norris was seen to be running wide in corners a few times, with Hamilton getting closer each time. Hamilton was asked to come in but he chose to ignore the call. He was probably determined to be the one to take the chequered flag but Norris too was determined so both drivers stayed out. The British driver was heard to tell his engineer to ‘shut up’ when a warning came over the radio about cars ahead sliding.

Finally it happened – on lap 52, Norris went very wide and off, and Hamilton was ready to shoot by. The McLaren driver recovered and slotted into second place quickly though the next car (Perez) was 49 seconds away. The slide made Norris lose his spirit a bit and he decided he had to come in. As Perez dropped off for tyres, Verstappen suddenly found himself in second place but way behind Hamilton.

With just one lap left, it was to be Hamilton’s win in Sochi – finally reaching his 100th F1 win. Verstappen had done well to come up all the way from the back to finish second while Bottas was able to hold on to his fifth place till the end.

F1: Vettel disqualified, Hamilton moves to second in Hungarian GP

The celebrations for the Aston Martin COGNIZANT F1 team were cut short after the Hungarian Grand Prix yesterday when Sebastian Vettel lost his second placing due to disqualification. The team had been unable to provide a full sample of 1 litre of fuel from the AMR21 racing car for inspection, as required by FIA regulations.

Cars are inspected before as well as after each race to ensure that they fully comply with the regulations and even the drivers are weighed. In Vettel’s case, the team could only provide 0.3 litres although it said that it was sure there was more in the fuel tank but could not be extracted. They were given some time to resolve the matter but after 5 hours, the Stewards made the decision to disqualify Vettel. The Aston Martin team will review the matter and may make an appeal.

*A short-lived celebration for the Aston Martin COGNIZANT team.*

His disqualification moved Lewis Hamilton to runner-up position, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz gained third place. This puts the Mercedes-AMG driver back on top of the championship race with 8 points ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen who finished tenth but moved up to ninth with Vettel’s disqualification. The Mercedes-AMG driver gets enough points to take him past Verstappen and lead the championship.

Hamilton suffering from ‘long COVID’?
Hamilton was seen to be unwell at the trophy presentation ceremony and when asked about his condition later, he revealed that he has been facing a challenge in training after a COVID-19 infection last year. He could be suffering from what is known as ‘long COVID’ which refers to the continued effects a person experiences after recovering. These effects could go on for many weeks and there are some people who still suffer after a year. Hamilton said that he felt a lot of fatigue but was not sure if it was due to dehydration at the track as temperatures were high and he had a strenuous race, having had to fight from 14^th place to finish 3^rd overall.

F1/Round 11: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix

Even after you recover from COVID-19 infection, your quality of life may be affected and you may suffer for a long period after that. So do your best to avoid being infected by taking the necessary measures to protect yourself as well as others – and get vaccinated.

F1/Round 10: Preview & Sprint Race Starting Grid For 2021 British Grand Prix


Sprint Qualifying Race starts today at 4:30 pm in England/11:30 pm in Malaysia

As the pandemic seems to be easing, health authorities in the UK are willing to allow spectators at events again and this will be the case for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend. 140,000 spectators will be allowed into the circuit to watch the 10^th round of the 2011 Formula 1 World Championship and to see if their countryman, Sir Lewis Hamilton, can improve his position in the championship.

For this round, there is something extra in the form of a sprint race which will offer additional excitement for spectators and also a different challenge for the teams. The Sprint Qualifying Race is 100 kms long which is 17 laps of the Silverstone circuit. Being run over a shorter distance, drivers will be flat out from start to finish, with no pit stops needed. The best effort will be necessary as the finishing order will determine the starting positions for the main race, so there is a chance to improve on the position gained in Qualifying. There are also points for the top three finishers of the race.

The starting grid for the Sprint Race has already been determined by a qualifying session yesterday in which Hamilton took pole position with Max Verstappen alongside. With the running of this extra race, the normal schedule has been changed and there is less practice time for the teams to fine-tune the cars’ set-up. They had one free practice session yesterday and there will be another one today before the Sprint Race. This will place more pressure on the mechanics and engineers who have less time to work.

“The start and first lap is one of the riskiest moments for a driver and sets the driver up for the race they have to come, so having two standing starts to contend with, firstly in the Sprint Qualifying Race and then the standard Sunday event, will add extra drama and pressure. Losing out in the Sprint Qualifying Race will have a big impact on the main race, and could make your Sunday very tricky,” said Mercedes-AMG’s Toto Wolff.

Drivers love racing and the Sprint Qualifying format means some extra racing. “The usual format has been pretty standard apart from a couple of weekends where there has been less practice, so it will be nice to try something different and see if it is going to really mix up the weekend,” said Valtteri Bottas. “I guess it can go really against you or for you, but we will find out.”

Red Bull stays ahead
With 5 consecutive victories, Red Bull Racing has a strong hold in the leading position of the championship. Better results in recent races by the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team have kept the gap to 44 points, though. It’s the same thing in the Drivers Championship where Max Verstappen remains at the top with Hamilton 32 points behind and surely eager to change that as soon as possible.

Where the F1 championship began
This will be the 72^nd British Grand Prix and it is one of the two events that has been consistently a part of each year’s championship. In fact, the current Formula 1 World Championship had its start at Silverstone in 1950 but the former airbase runway was not always used. In some years, the Aintree circuit in Liverpool was used and between 164 and 1986, the Brands Hatch circuit hosted F1 races.

Lewis Hamilton has been the most successful driver in the history of the British GP, having won his home race on 7 occasions, the first win with McLaren in 2008. However, among the teams, Ferrari has the most – 17 wins since their first one in 1950 at the first F1 race.

*Scuderia Ferrari’s first F1 win was at Silverstone in 1950, the year the world championship series began.*

Vaccination does not make you immune to COVID-19 infection. but it may help reduce the severity of the effects. You can still get infected and you may not show symptoms but spread the coronavirus. Do not stop taking protective measures such as wearing a facemask, washing hands frequently and social distancing. #kitakagakita

F1/Round 4: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Spanish Grand Prix

♦ No incidents on the opening lap for a change but Lewis Hamilton lost his lead at the first corner to Max Verstappen, while Charles Leclerc slipped past Valtteri Bottas to take third place. Not a great start for the two Mercedes-AMG drivers.

♦ There was some puzzlement as Pierre Gasly seemed to have started in the wrong position, which the Stewards looked into. They later found that he had moved too soon at the start and gave him a 5-second penalty.

♦ Although Leclerc had gotten in front of Bottas, he could not run away and the Mercedes-AMG driver was cautious too. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez ere getting closer to the front.

♦ On lap 9, Scuderia Alphatauri’s Yuki Tsunoda had to pull to the side of the track as his car seemed to lose power (it was later reported to be a fuel pressure issue). His parked position being hazardous brought the Safety Car out. The day before, the Japanese driver had made critical remarks about what he felt was difference in performance between his car and team mate Gasly’s – but later apologised to his team, saying he was frustrated by the way the car behaved.

♦ The Safety Car was only required for one lap and by lap 10, the race resumed, with Verstappen still ahead and trying to extend the gap from Hamilton again.

♦ While the Safety Car was on the track, Antonio Giovinazzi raced into the Alfa Romeo pits to get the tyres changed… but a delay saw him fuming for longer than necessary and when he rejoined, he had dropped all the way to the back.

♦ Lance Stroll was waiting to pounce on Fernando Alonso the moment the Safety Car moved off, and when he did so, he timed it perfectly and powered past the Spaniard on the outside of Turn 4 to take 10th position.

♦ Going to lap 20, Hamilton was still behind Verstappen but the gap was not changing much. However, the British driver had concerns about his tyres although he is well known at being able to manage them when things get tough.

♦ At the one-third mark – 22 laps – the watching began as the leaders waited to see who would head to the pits first. The Safety Car had made a one-stop strategy a realistic possibility but for Verstappen, the gap was still too small. Further back in the field, though, the rush to the pits started as one driver after another came in.

♦ Bottas came in on lap 24 and on the next lap, Verstappen decided to also come in and spent just 4.2 seconds getting the tyres changed. When he rejoined, he slotted into fifth, just behind team mate Perez. But it was only momentarily as Perez dutifully moved aside to let him start the chase. Hamilton, in spite of tyre concerns, decided to stay out a bit longer and see if he could get a good gap in the lead.

♦ Toto Wolff was unhappy seeing that Haas driver Nikita Mazepin making it difficult for Hamilton to get by. He informed the officials and asked for action to be taken to make sure the Russian driver did not cause unnecessary problems. When other drivers have complained about him, Mazepin has used his rookie ‘inexperience’ as an excuse.

♦ Hamilton was finally called in on lap 29 and a hard-charging Verstappen quickly took over the lead. The chase was on again for Hamilton, now with fresh tyres and a gap of 2 seconds to close. As an indication of his determination, he set the fastest lap as the race crossed the halfway point.

♦ At the other end of the field, Nicholas Latifi pushed Giovinazzi to make a mistake on lap 37 and swept by to take 16th position, just behind his Williams team mate Georg Russell. Sebastian Vettel and Alonso, both past world champions, were also engaged in a battle for 11th place.

♦ Ricciardo was trying whatever he could to prevent Perez from passing him and eventually, his weaving was noticeable and he received an official warning (via his team) to stop such driving tactics.

♦ On lap 43, Hamilton was asked to come in for a set of mediums which would be advantageous when the race entered its final stages. His position was taken by Bottas who kept the Red Bull in sight and when Hamilton got back, he was 22 seconds behind Verstappen. He was about a second quicker per lap than the Red Bull driver, and if he kept that pace, he would catch up by the last lap as 22 laps remained.

♦ By lap 48, Perez finally out-manoeuvered Ricciardo on the outside and grabbed fifth place, with Leclerc next on his list.

♦ On lap 53, Hamilton was trailing his team mate and ready to pass, but Bottas didn’t seem to want to give up his position readily. But he got called in for another set of tyres so Hamilton was able to see Verstappen right in his sights. The gap was around 10 seconds and the number of laps remaining in the race was 12.

♦ With 9 laps remaining, Bottas was in fourth but with fresh tyres, he would be able to displace Lerclerc (who had done only one tyre change) and get up on the podium. There was even the possibility of second place if the Red Bull tyres couldn’t last till the end.

♦ As the 60th lap started, Hamilton was slipstreaming Verstappen’s car and going into Turn 1, the Mercedes-AMG surged past on the outside and took the lead. Having dropped a place, the Red Bull team decided to bring him their car in for a new set of tyres, by which time the gap to Hamilton had stretched to 23 seconds. He therefore had to just keep ahead of Bottas who was about 11 seconds behind. The new tyres gave Verstappen to set a very fast lap so he could get that 1 extra point.

♦ Once again, it was Hamilton who took the chequered flag at the Spanish Grand Prix, the victory being his 98th in his 14 years of racing in F1. The top four finishers ended the race as they had started it, and Tsunoda was the only non-finisher.

F1/Round 3: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix

♦ It seemed like a good, incident-free start to the race… at least for the first lap. Then, as the second lap was beginning, Kimi Raikkonen ran into the back of Antonio Giovinazzi (his team mate). The front wing came off and he tried to drive on but could not and had to turn off into the gravel. An early start as usual for the Safety Car which was deployed to allow the Alfa Romeo to be removed and debris cleared. Giovinazzi, however, was still in the race and Daniel Ricciardo was waiting to pounce on the ‘wounded’ Alfa Romeo.

♦ Although Valtterri Bottas was in the lead, his engineers saw the brakes overheating (smoke was coming out too) and this was a concern for the restart when the Safety Car moved off on lap 6. Max Verstappen was ready for the moment and got around Lewis Hamilton to slot into second place and aim for the race leader.

♦ But the World Champion was not going to settle for third place, and within a lap, he slipped part Verstappen to regain second position less than a second behind his team mate.

♦ Lando Norris had used his tyre advantage to overtake Sergio Perez for 4th place, but then the Mexican driver who is with Red Bull Racing this year out-maneuvered the McLaren driver going through Turn 1 with the help of DRS.

♦ Ricciardo had started from 16th position and steadily worked his way up the field. By lap 18, he was able to pass Sebastian Vettel to grab 10th position and start thinking of some points to take home at the end of the race.

♦ Bottas didn’t make things easy for Hamilton, who was showing a lot of determination to take the lead. On lap 20, as the cars raced around Turn 1, Hamilton surged around his team mate and into the lead. It was like a replay of the 2020 race when Hamilton did the same thing.

♦ With a third of the race done, most cars were changing their soft tyres for harder ones. The two Mercedes-AMG cars were ahead of two Red Bulls, with one Ferrari (Charles Leclerc) about 12 seconds further back. Verstappen was within striking distance of Bottas but never had a clear chance to overtaken, allowing Hamilton to concentrate on building up his buffer with a succession of fastest laps.

♦ At the halfway mark, it was still both Mercedes-AMGs ahead, and then two Red Bulls. Fernando Alonso was the better-placed Alpine in 6th, watching Ricciardo’s progress and waiting for a chance to attack the McLaren driver, Both Ferraris were still in the points, but in 9th and 19th positions, they could easily drop out too. In fact, Leclerc was under threat from the second Alpine driven by Esteban Ocon, just a couple of seconds away.

♦ On lap 36, Verstappen started the chain of pit stops to get onto harder tyres to sustain an offensive. While Bottas shot in after the Dutchman, Hamilton was willing to stay out a bit longer, telling team that he thought the tyres were still okay, but he was ordered in. At that point, he had a 4-second lead and Perez inherited the lead of 12 seconds. But if he came into the pits, he would immediately fall to 4th.

♦ 22 laps remained as Hamilton sped after Perez, setting a fastest lap again. Verstappen had no answer to the speed of the Mercedes-AMG. He also had to watch his mirrors for Bottas who had been given encouragement personally by the team boss to go after the Red Bull.

♦ On lap 47, Nikita Mazepin, the ‘bad boy’ of the F1 world with his controversial behaviour, caught the attention of the Stewards who investigated him ignoring blue flags, which required him to allow the race leader to pass. The Russian drver has made some mistakes before, and explained that he was new and ‘unaware’. This time, he got a 5-second penalty although that was of no great consequence since he was at the back of the field anyway.

♦ By lap 51, Perez was probably finding it difficult with the old tyres, and Hamilton got by to regain the lead. The Red Bull driver then came in for the long-overrdue tyre change and as expected, slotted into 4th place when the rejoined.

♦ With the softer tyres, Perez pushed hard and got a fastest lap. He was making steady progress up the field in the final 10 laps but had still to get past some cars. As 5 laps remained, Hamilton was in a reasonably comfortable and safe lead, 5 seconds ahead. Bottas was not trying any harder and would settle for third, with Perez not within striking distance.

♦ 2 laps before the end, with a 30-second gap, Bottas rushed into the pits to get soft tyres and he was planning to go for the fastest lap and snatch that 1 bonus point from Perez. Veerstappen did the same thing since he had a 32-second lead ahead of Bottas, and he too was eyeing that 1 precious point.

♦ As Hamilton took the chequered flag, Verstappen and Bottas were both trying hard to be quickest driver of the day – and Bottas was the one because Verstappen’s time was deleted due to track limits infringement.

F1/Round 2: Preview & Starting Grid for 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Race starts at 3 pm in Italy/9 pm in Malaysia

Formula 1 returns to Europe this weekend after the opening round in Bahrain last month, a departure from the usual season-opening venue in Australia. Tightened entry procedures forced the organisers to switch to the Middle East and the Australian round will be run towards the end of the year when, hopefully, the pandemic will have eased.

For the second round of the 2021 Formula 1 championship, the race is at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, more popularly referred to as the Imola Circuit as it is near the city of Imola in Italy. It was used for Round 13 last year, the first time in 14 years. The event is again called the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Last year, when the race was run at Imola, the teams had no recent data since the last race was run in 2006 when the cars and tyres were different and so were the conditions at the 68-year old track. The Imola circuit is a highly technical one, with a wide range of corners and it’s narrow and bumpy, as the older tracks tend to be. But at least there is now data from the race last year, which will help in setting up the cars.

“We all enjoyed returning to Imola in 2020, after a 14-year gap, and it was made more special by the fact we secured our seventh Constructors’ championship on that weekend. It’s quite a narrow track, which makes overtaking more difficult, but this puts more focus on strategy and makes qualifying even more crucial,” said Toto Wolff, the head of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Team.

As for the tyres, Pirelli is bringing the same C2-C3-C4 compounds from the middle of their range as last year. However, the warmer temperatures [compared to last year] and changes in tyre construction and downforce levels also create new conditions this weekend.

The performance gaps between all three compounds are different to initial estimates. The gap between hard and medium is smaller than expected because the hard, although requiring a longer warm-up time, is then able to work well and provide a good level of grip. Between the soft and the medium, the gap is instead bigger.

The drivers therefore face a different challenge from Bahrain, and securing good positions as far in front on the grid as possible have been vital. While the results of the first round have Mercedes-AMG at the top, it’s still early in the championship and how the season will run will be clearer after this weekend’s race.

F1/Round 1: Highlights & Provisional Results For 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel (with Aston Martin this year) had a bad start to the first race of the season as he was hit with a grid penalty for not giving attention to yellow flags during the qualifying session. As a result, he was demoted to start from the last position on the grid, after Nikita Mazepin (Haas F1).

For Sergio Perez, with Red Bull Racing this year, it was even worse as his car developed a problem on the formation lap, almost resulting in another formation lap being run. But he managed to restart the car and rushed back to the pits from where he started.

As the light went green for the first race of the season, Max Verstappen had a good start but Russian driver Mazepin, who had spun during qualifying, went into a spin and ended his race. The Safety Car (and Aston Martin Vantage) was deployed right away to lead the cars around for 3 laps while the Haas racing car was cleared.

When the Safety Car exited, Verstappen made a quick start to start extending his lead. Behind hi, Pierre Gasle and Mick Schumacher had some drama on Turn 6, while Vettel managed to move up 5 places but had some contact with Yuki Tsunoda. Debris on the track activated the Virtual Safety Car, which slowed things down for one lap.

At the 10th lap, Verstappen was being pursued by Lewis Hamilton who was about 1.5 seconds behind, with Valtteri Bottas 5 seconds further back.The Red Bull driver was having problems with his car, but he held a consistent pace and Hamilton just kept him in sight… waiting. The general order of the field was roughly what it had been on the grid at that point.

Just before the 20th lap, Verstappen came into the pits for a tyre change and Hamilton surged into the lead. When Verstappen rejoined, he was quite far down and had to work hard to get back up front again.

And what of Fernando Alonso, back in F1 again with the Alpine team? He was somewhere midfield, constantly dicing with his old rival, Vettel and also Carlos Sainz. SDergio Perex and even Kimi Raikkonen.

Two laps after the halfway point, Hamilton returned to the pits for another set of tyres, allowing Verstappen to take the lead. When he rejoined, he was in third. Bottas was then asked to come in, but his stop was delayed up to 10 seconds as the tyre removal was funbled.

Alonso’s race came to an end on lap 35 as brake issues forced him back to the pits where the car stayed. A rather disappointing return for the Spaniard who was twice World Champion.

On lap 40, Verstappen rushed into the pits to have tyres changed to hards and when he got back out, Hamilton was trying his best to stretch the lead, But calculations shows that the Dutchman could close in on the British driver within 10 laps.

As lap 45 started, Vettel locked his brakes at Turn 1 and bumped into Esteban Ocon, and both cars came to a stop for a short while. But then they managed to restart and continue, so the Safety Car was not called out.

With 10 laps remaining, Hamilton had a lead of just under 3 seconds from Verstappen, while Bottas was 16 second behind the Red Bull car. Tsunoda was in 10th place and if he could maintain his pace, he would get his first F1 point in his first ever race.

As the remaining laps counted down, all eyes were on Hamilton and Verstappen closing the gap. Hamilton had older tyres but as he had shown before, he could make sure that he would make it to the end – in the lead.

4 laps from the end, Verstappen finally got past into the lead as Hamilton went wide, partly due to his rear tyres starting to lose grip. However, the Red Bull driver slowed down inexplicably and Hamilton grabbed back the lead with 3 laps to go. By the time the 56th lap ended, the separation was under a second and it was Hamilton who took the first victory of the season. A fantastic duel to the end which hopefully will be seen in coming races.