Mercedes dominance over one-lap and race pace continues: Imola Race analysis
Lewis Hamilton won at the 29th different circuit in his Formula 1 career as Valtteri Bottas completed a Mercedes 1-2 and Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium, a second time in three races, at the history-ridden Imola circuit. A 1-2 finish for Mercedes fetched them the constructor’s champions for a seventh-consecutive season, breaking Ferrari’s record of six-straight championships.
London, 3 Nov 2020: Hamilton took his 93rd F1 career victory. In the process, he also set the fastest lap and led more than 5000 laps. A P2 was a consolation for Bottas, and Ricciardo achieved his second podium of the season. Kvyat finished a brilliant P4 for AlphaTauri, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P5. Sergio Perez rued the decision of pitting as the team gave away a podium finish. McLaren got a double points finish as Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris finished in P7 and P8 respectively. Alfa Romeo had their best race of the season, as they too, achieved double-points, finishing ninth and tenth, Raikkonen, ahead of Giovinazzi.
Williams’ Nicholas Latifi was ever so close to points in P11, ahead of Sebastian Vettel who would have finished in the top 10 if not for the slow pit stop. Lance Stroll finished in P13, and Haas driver Romain Grosjean in P14. Alex Albon spun around his Red Bull trying to maintain his position after the safety car restart, ultimately finishing last in P15.
Mercedes clinched a historic 7th consecutive constructor’s championship, breaking Ferrari’s record of 6 consecutive titles. They have taken all the pole positions in 2020 so far and have maintained an advantage in race pace over rivals Red Bull. Red Bull were unable to close the gap to Mercedes at Imola, especially in qualifying as Max Verstappen never looked in contention for pole position. Ferrari’s one lap and race pace has improved significantly since Nürburgring as Leclerc has finished in the top 10 for three consecutive races. They could have achieved a double-points finish, if not for Vettel’s slow pit stop.
Renault looked like the lead midfield car as they qualified in the top-5 and Ricciardo managed a podium. Racing Point still have the best race pace, as evident from Perez’s overcut. They threw away a podium by pitting for fresh soft tyres. McLaren looked to have lost ground to Racing Point and Renault, as they lacked both the qualifying and race pace to challenge them. AlphaTauri have improved their qualifying pace significantly as they qualified P4 and P8. It remains to be seen if it is track specific or they have genuinely made a step up.
Alfa Romeo achieved double points finish as they have unlocked pace by exploring different set up directions. They still lack qualifying pace owing to the slow Ferrari power unit. Williams are making marginal gains in race pace which will help them for 2021 and they still have decent qualifying pace as Russell once again made it to Q2 on Saturday. Haas revealed a fundamental problem with their car, regarding the rear suspension. The rear suspension overheats due to which they have to raise the rear ride height, which compromises their aero performance. It is not a quick fix, but the team hopes they can rectify it for 2021, even though it will be the same chassis.
For the first time, Formula 1 experimented with a two-day weekend. One practice session on Saturday, followed by qualifying and the race on Sunday.
The predicted fastest strategy was mediums to soft tyres.
The start was hectic as Hamilton lost out to Verstappen. And had to settle for P3. Meanwhile, behind Gasly was squeezed by Hamilton and subsequently lost a position to Ricciardo. The other Renault of Ocon tagged Stroll’s front wing, resulting in damage as the Racing Point had to pit. Vettel tagged Magnussen as well which resulted in the Dane spinning and Vettel losing a part of his front wing endplate. Giovinazzi from the back of the grid was up to P14.
As the race settled the top three were covered by 2.5-3s, as Bottas lead with Verstappen 1.5s behind in P2 and Hamilton hot on his heels. There was sad news for Gasly as AlphaTauri had to retire his car due to terminal damage on lap 8. Norris, Ocon and Leclerc started the round of pit stops as they pitted on lap 13. The degradation on soft tyres was worse than expected, therefore, the early pit stops. Ricciardo, Kvyat and Albon followed suit one lap later.
Verstappen was the first to pit, in an attempt to undercut Bottas on lap 18, changing onto a set of hard tyres. Bottas did the same next lap, emerging 1.5s ahead of Verstappen. Meanwhile, Hamilton told the pit wall not to box as he carried on, setting fastest laps in the process and extending his gap to Bottas and Verstappen. Bottas’s car had picked up damage as well, which cost him around 0.7s per lap. Verstappen was held up behind the damaged Mercedes, as Hamilton extended his gap to over a pit stop.
Ocon retired on lap 30 due to a gearbox issue due to which a VSC was deployed for a half a lap. Hamilton made full use of VSC to pit and come out in the lead 4s ahead of Bottas. Verstappen was hounding Bottas for P2, and due to his ailing car, Bottas locked up and ran wide in second to last corner. This allowed Verstappen to close up and pass on the main straight using DRS for P2. Behind, Perez was running in P4 after making a pit stop, overcutting Ricciardo, Leclerc, Sainz & Kvyat. Meanwhile, a mammoth stint from Vettel and Raikkonen on mediums gave them points potential. A botched pit stop by Ferrari robbed Vettel of a top-10 finish, whereas Raikkonen pitted on lap 48 to emerge in the top 10.
Bad luck struck Verstappen on lap 50 as his rear right tyre blew up and pitched him into the gravel trap. Russell, by then running in the points, made a rookie error and crashed behind the safety car while warming his tyres. Both Mercedes pitted under the safety car for soft tyres, and so did Perez- giving up P3- and Kvyat. Ricciardo, Leclerc and Albon stayed out on hard tyres. Green flag running resumed on lap 58, as Hamilton and Bottas made clean getaway. Behind, Ricciardo was running in P3 and Kvyat gained three positions, running in P4, courtesy of the new soft tyres. Perez was unable to do the same as he was stuck behind Leclerc in P6.
Earlier on Saturday, Mercedes locked out the front row as Bottas claimed pole and Hamilton had to settle for P2. Behind, Verstappen lined up in customary P3. Alongside him, a fantastic qualifying saw Pierre Gasly start P4 and AlphaTauri teammate Daniil Kvyat started in P8. Renault’s Ricciardo started in P5, alongside the second Red Bull car of Albon with Leclerc qualifying one position ahead of Kvyat in P7. McLaren duo of Norris and Sainz completed the top 10. Both Racing Point cars were unable to make it to the top 10 as Perez started in P11 and Stroll in P15. Ocon started P12 in his Renault. For the second race in a row Williams’ Russell out-qualified Ferrari’s Vettel as they started P13 and P14 respectively. Haas drivers Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen started 16th and 17th respectively. Alfa Romeos of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi started P18 and P20, sandwiched Latifi’s Williams in P19.
