Official 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix **SPOILERS**

[Piginapoke]

Round 2 and Imola, after an intriguing start to the season. Can Red Bull cement its car advantage? Most analysts think that the high rake cars will be at an advantage here, if so Mercedes and Aston will again be behind. Either way, it looks very unlikely to be the Mercedes 1-2 that we saw last year.

Note changes to Friday and Saturday times to accommodate Prince Phillip's funeral

Date(s): Friday 16 April - Sunday 18 April 2021.

UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)

All sessions are live on Sky F1; Channel 4 showing highlights of Race and Qualifying:





Live timing for all sessions available here:

https://www.formula1.com/en/f1-live.html

Lap times, PU component use, technical reports and Stewards' decisions for the weekend will appear here:

https://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-c...

Weather forecast:
https://weather.com/en-GB/weather/today/l/44.36,11...

Tyre options:

Teams have two hard, three mediums and eight soft sets available per driver for each weekend.



2020 race result:



2020 race highlights:

https://youtu.be/RL1oFTz-NvA

Edited by Piginapoke on Tuesday 13th April 13:35

Edited by Piginapoke on Thursday 15th April 20:27

[Piginapoke]

Man-At-Arms said:

cowboyengineer said:

I think Mercedes have had 3 week and they will be coming to win with a few new parts. I hope it is as close as Bahrain

Thought the new rules/token system stops them just tinkering with parts whenever they feel like it ?

Aero development remains free but the teams are limited because already most resources within the budget cap will be focused on the new 2022 regulations. The big structural stuff like suspension, chassis, gearbox is fixed in place for teams so Merc's room to improve the car is much more limited that previous years..

[Piginapoke]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Bugger, seen the thread and thought it was this weekend!

Blame China!

[Piginapoke]

parabolica said:

They were only .5 a second quicker in quali trim and they've only been to one track so far. There's no saying who is going to be stronger at each track this year; I reckon it'll be neck and neck (hopefully).

Agree with this, it's a bit early to draw many conclusions after 1 race (particularly after so little testing) but it will certainly be a lot closer, which is fantastic news after the last few years.

[Piginapoke]

Mr Pointy said:

FRIDAY & SATURDAY SESSION TIMES CHANGED

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-changes-imol...

The OP might care to amend the first post. Qualifying is now an hour earlier at 1pm BST & the FP times are moved as well.

Thank you- I've updated the original post

[Piginapoke]

Some Gump said:

thegreenhell said:

That's a good point. Honda have brought a completely new engine which is obviously a good step in performance, but it remains to be seen how reliable it will be over a season.

This is my thought. Hasn't perez done 2 engines already? Red bull could be the creation racing of 2021, fast but fragile!

No. Honda changed the unit as a precaution I believe.

[Piginapoke]

New floor for Williams, evidence of improved funding?

[Piginapoke]

Ted looks at the Imola updates:

https://youtu.be/t8U1xF8eCqc

[Piginapoke]

rdjohn said:

When Christian Horner was interviewed yesterday, he mentioned that Max’s gearbox was a Friday gearbox and not his race box.

I assume that they are using a late 20 box on Fridays. Is this allowed, if so, does it also apply to PU allowances?

Gearboxes must be used for five consecutive events (counted as P3, the qualifying practice session and the race). A 5 place grid penalty will be incurred if a replacement gearbox is used.

[Piginapoke]

Really enjoyed that session- fast cars, demanding track, tiny margins between drivers. Reminds me why I love F1, it's shaping up to be a fantastic season.

Vettel must be wondering where he goes from here, another few races of being out-qualified by Stroll and proper questions will start being asked; Perez beat him 18-2 last year.

I thought it was a great lap from Leclerc. There's something fantastic about watching a driver push a Ferrari faster than it really wants to go around Imola:

[Piginapoke]

TheDeuce said:

Piginapoke said:

Really enjoyed that session- fast cars, demanding track, tiny margins between drivers. Reminds me why I love F1, it's shaping up to be a fantastic season.

I thought it was a great lap from Leclerc. There's something fantastic about watching a driver push a Ferrari faster than it really wants to go around Imola:

2019, 2020, 2021 - a holy trinity of years in the sport I think - and perhaps fitting that those years tell of the fall and resurgence of Ferrari too.. I honestly can't start to imagine where Ferrari would be without Charles, they owe that kid a lot, he's elevated them during tough times.

All respect Deuce but 2019 and 2020 were awful years- Merc and Hamilton way too dominant, any sport needs competition. That makes this year all the more surprising/exciting (to me, at least).

[Piginapoke]

Mistake by Lewis to hang on the outside, was always going to lose out

[Piginapoke]

Brilliant from Norris.

[Piginapoke]

Definitely 50/50 for me, and 2 very lucky drivers

[Piginapoke]

Max!!!

[Piginapoke]

M5-911 said:

doesn't matter what you throw at Perez, he still there!

Oops

[Piginapoke]

exelero said:

Ferrari 3rd and 4th I’m happy. Also Norris is just showing off, ricciardo doesn’t see him

Norris could win this is softs last

[Piginapoke]

WickerBill said:

I don’t know what’s more satisfying.

1) Hamilton hunting down Max on used inters
2) Hamilton having an utter mare, with a rare mistake but still recovering to finish second and maintain the championship lead
3) The delicious salty SALTY comments from the usual trolls that are spending all their time complaining about Lewis rather than celebrating a win by Max

Actually, all 3.

Good race all around, Lewis maximised his potential and pulled some great overtakes, Norris had a great race, Max won in the fastest car and maximised his points.

1 point in it

Game on

Onto the next one...

...il let you whiny little b!tches ‘debate’ for the next few days and check back in

Please don't

[Piginapoke]

paulguitar said:

exelero said:

I'll just leave this here. Last couple of years it had the best noise in my oppinion.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6y3iOffvPY

I like the bangs but listening to these cars is still a real letdown. Aside from the underwhelming nouse though, I think F1 is in fine health. We could be in for one of the best seasons ever.

If you want F1 sound you need an F412 : https://youtu.be/5SoZiTxdQyw

But the racing this year will do just fine.