Red Bull Goes 1-2, Ferrari Falters, Mercedes’s Mixed Bag: Three Takeaways From Imola
Despite the on and off wet conditions throughout the weekend, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was smooth sailing for some while others struggled to maintain pace and control of their cars.
Imola faced the threat of more rain at the beginning of the race with the track still damp. The teams elected to start on intermediates, but between laps 17 and 20, the entire field pitted for mediums given the dry line.
Red Bull finished 1-2 with Max Verstappen cruising with a comfortable lead throughout a majority of the race and teammate Sergio Pérez right behind him. It marks the first 1-2 finish for the team this season (and the first since 2016), and the Dutchman closes the gap between him and Charles Leclerc in the driver standings, trailing by just 27 points. The two retirements for Verstappen in previous races has kept him just out of reach of the Ferrari driver.
“Well, that was a very lovely Sunday,” Verstappen said over the team radio. Others, though, may not agree.
In shocking fashion, a Ferrari driver did not finish on the podium during its home race. Instead, McLaren’s Lando Norris took third, the first podium for the team this season thanks to a late race mistake from Leclerc.
Mercedes’s George Russell, after a mixed bag of a weekend, took fourth while Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top five. And every team now has a point after Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll finished eighth and 10th, respectively.
Here’s three takeaways from Imola:
What happened to Ferrari?
For the first race in the 2022 season, a Ferrari driver was not on the podium, leaving fans wondering where it went wrong.
Carlos Sainz recorded his second consecutive DNF after colliding with Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap. The 27-year-old, who just signed a two-year extension, ended up beached on the gravel.
Meanwhile, Leclerc spent a majority of the race chasing for Pérez who was holding on tight to second as Verstappen had a comfortable lead in Imola. The three drivers pitted late to switch to soft tires, and Leclerc managed to narrow the gap between him and Pérez.
However, disaster struck as he lost control at the Variante Alta chicane. The Ferrari driver had to pit for a new front wing and fresh tires, giving up third to Norris. Leclerc dropped to ninth, but in the final few laps, he was able to recover to finish sixth.
“I was too greedy and I paid the price for it,” he told Sky Sports.
After the race, Leclerc tweeted, “I gave it all but went over the limit at the end. Sorry to the team and to all the tifosi [fans] that supports us. Instead of a P3, it ended up in a P6. We’ll come back stronger.”
Mercedes produces a mixed bag
One of the major storylines this season has been lackluster Mercedes, who went from contending for the World Championship with Lewis Hamilton in 2021 to now scrapping for points.
Russell, who joined from Williams this season, has finished ahead of Hamilton in the last three races, the latest being in Imola as the young rising star came in at fourth compared to Hamilton’s 13th. Russell now has 49 points, landing himself fourth in the driver standings, while Hamilton rests in seventh with 28 points.
Over the team radio, team principal Toto Wolff told Hamilton that he knows “this is undriveable” and that it was a “terrible race.” Hamilton later said to Sky Sports, “I'm out of the Championship for sure,” echoing similar comments he made after Saturday’s sprint race.
The British driver sits more than 50 points behind Leclerc, who leads the driver standings at 86. Hamilton finished 14th in the 21-lap sprint on Saturday, and both the driver and Wolff said on Saturday that “it would be a pretty unrealistic to claim we have a slot among the frontrunners fighting for the championship,” as the team principal put it.
Overtaking had been an issue throughout the weekend for the team. On Saturday, Wolff said, “The car is not good enough to overtake cars that are within 0.4s or 0.5s in lap time performance.” Fans saw this Sunday as Hamilton struggled to get past Pierre Gasly, even with DRS enabled.
Mercedes chose a car design that is different from its competitors, opting for narrow sidepods that leave more of the floor’s top surface exposed. The uncontrollable bouncing seems to be an ongoing issue.
Hamilton has finished in the top five twice in four races this season, going P3 in Bahrain, P10 in Saudi Arabia, P4 in Australia and a season-low 13th on Sunday.
Comparatively, Russell is the only driver this season to finish in the top five of every race. He went P4 in Bahrain, P5 in Saudi Arabia, snagged a podium with P3 in Australia and brought it home with fourth at the Emilia Romagna.
Despite the consistency during the races for Russell, he feels that there is still more room for Mercedes to improve, saying to Sky Sports: “If we want to sustain this position in the championship, we need to find more pace.”
Mercedes sits in a distant third for the Constructor standings as the Ferrari and Red Bull teammates work more cohesively, sitting in first (124) and second (113), respectively. With the Miami Grand Prix in two weeks, the question remains: What does Mercedes need to do to bring consistency to Hamilton’s car?
McLaren shows signs of a comeback
Imola seems to be a lucky place for Norris as he finished on the podium for the second consecutive season.
McLaren began the season very off pace compared to the rest of the grid, but Norris and teammate Ricciardo have worked their way up to contention. The young 22-year-old stayed in fourth place in the closing laps, but a Leclerc error gave Norris a window to slide into third.
But that was not the only significant moment this weekend for Norris. He also qualified third Friday ahead of Sainz and Pérez but when it came time for Saturday’s sprint, Norris fell to fifth, just behind both Red Bull and Ferrari drivers.
Throughout the first four races, Ricciardo has gone 14th in Bahrain, 17th in Saudi Arabia after retiring early, sixth at his home race and 18th in Imola. Meanwhile, Norris finished P15 in Bahrain, P7 in Saudi Arabia, P5 in Australia and third this weekend.
When asked if it was a surprise to finish behind Red Bull, he said, per Autosport: “Yeah, of course. It was an amazing race and amazing weekend to be honest. To beat one Red Bull and one Ferrari is much better than we're expecting always, so I'm happy. The team deserve it.
“From where we were in race one, to now scoring a podium, I think they all deserve it. So top job to the team.”
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