2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Imola, Apr 16 - 18

[RZS10]

I was surprised they didn't just push him backwards through the pits but that would have probably required a red flag - other than that there's no shorter route, from what i can tell the alternative would have been over the bridge and through the actual city center

[mkay]

Verstappen is still got the fastest package, he just needs to put it together.

I'm not sure we have enough data to conclusively affirm this though. Merc definitely has made some strides setup wise and the front-limited nature of the track as well as cooler temps are helping them (the latter, per Toto Wolff on AMuS).

Hopefully FP3 will clarify the top of the order before Q/R.

[Hoffman900]

I think Bahrain is anomalous as well. Temps are insanely high, it’s windy, and sand is constantly blowing across the surface.

A few races at the European style tracks will give us a better idea.

Could you imagine 120* F daytime temps in Europe?! Ya’ll would melt

[SiLo]

https://i.imgur.com/OBupfHW.png
Likely route?

Its mad that he broke down, meters from the pit lane. How was it not a 30second trip back.

You'd think there is space to drive through the back of the paddock to the other side of the pit lane.

[SiLo]

They have struggled a few times in Bahrain when they didnt have a ridiculous car advantage. I think the times from practice will be similar all weekend, it's going to be very, very close.

[atanatizante]

...

Looks like Merc is targeting getting through fp2 and starting on the mediums.

...

In FP1 and FP2 both Red Bull and Merc drivers were doing the same tyre sim strategy bar the laps they did ...
FP1: 1 set of S tyres having 6 laps and 1 set of H tyres running 18-19 laps out of 25 laps in total (for Merc boys)
FP2: 1 set of S tyres with 5-6 laps and 1 set of M tyres running 19-20 laps out of 25/26 laps in total for Merc boys

The Merc drivers didn`t improve on their low qualy simulation on S tyres and it seems that they are setting the car towards the M (the race tyre) and H tyre ... hence in Q2 both Merc and Red Bull will qualify on M tyres at least and in the race it`ll be the same one-stop M-H tyre strategy like they did 6 months ago.

Regarding race pace, Leclerc was the fastest on the S tyre, although I suspect he had not so much fuel as Merc cars and was running a higher PU mode. But it worth mentioning that Perez was just 1 tenth behind Ham times in the first couple of laps when they did their simulation work ...

[dans79]

Regarding race pace, Leclerc was the fastest on the S tyre, although I suspect he had not so much fuel as Merc cars and was running a higher PU mode.

most likely pushing really really hard as well.

[NathanOlder]

Quick question, do the teams get an extra gearbox just for fridays ? or does the 'friday gearbox' only come about once the team has made a sheduled box change later in the season?

[GalacticHitchHiker]

The teams have free use of a practice gearbox for FP1 and FP2 that doesn't count towards their season allotment.

[politburo]

some people here predicted mazepin to outqualify and outrace mick. the guy can barely keep the car on track.

he is not slow, though, "just" doesn't get it together (yet?). Also in Bahrain on Friday he looked quicker than Schumacher

I would be astounded if he finishes the season at Haas.

It would probably be more astounding if this statement is fulfilled. You should be more concerned about the fate of Vettel than that of a rookie driver.

[dans79]

The teams have free use of a practice gearbox for FP1 and FP2 that doesn't count towards their season allotment.

that's not what the sporting regulations say.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files ... -12-16.pdf

[GalacticHitchHiker]

The teams have free use of a practice gearbox for FP1 and FP2 that doesn't count towards their season allotment.

that's not what the sporting regulations say.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files ... -12-16.pdf

"23.5 For the purposes of this Article only, an Event will be deemed to comprise P3, the qualifying
practice session and the race."

Notice that practice 1 and 2 are excluded from the definition of an "event".

[dans79]

The teams have free use of a practice gearbox for FP1 and FP2 that doesn't count towards their season allotment.

that's not what the sporting regulations say.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files ... -12-16.pdf

"23.5 For the purposes of this Article only, an Event will be deemed to comprise P3, the qualifying
practice session and the race."

Notice that practice 1 and 2 are excluded from the definition of an "event".

no wonder the rules constantly need clarified, they are clear as mud. stuff changes from article to article.

[ispano6]

Red Bull Racing Honda F1 Imola Grand Prix practices - Max: not the end of the world

“I like Italy. The food is good and I enjoy being here but we don’t seem to have been that lucky with the driving here recently, so hopefully that will change. I had a driveshaft issue so we had to stop the car in FP2 and it wasn’t the easiest to get the car back to the pits so I couldn’t get back out on track.

The car felt alright in FP1 and it is difficult to say how the second session would have been but we will still be able to look at the data and see what we can do better for tomorrow in terms of balance.

Of course it would have been better to have the session but I don’t think missing running in FP2 is the end of the world as we know what we need to do tomorrow. We just have to focus on ourselves and make sure we get the best out of our package.”

[GalacticHitchHiker]

no wonder the rules constantly need clarified, they are clear as mud. stuff changes from article to article.

I do wonder why they chose to change the definition of an event for one article rather than just saying fp1 and fp2 didn't count towards gearbox usage. That would have been much more clear.