Race, just race ... Formula 1

This weekend the Formula 1 World Championship stage took place in Imola, region Emilia-Romagna, Italy - this was the second stage from the 2021 season (the first took place three weeks ago in Bahrain).

The whole weekend turned out to be spectacular for the events, there were red flags in all sessions without exception, from Friday free practices to tight qualifications - eight pilots in 0.487 seconds from the pole position, by the way, this has not happened since the 2012 season, to a high-quality race on Sunday, it had everything from rain to red flags and two safety cars on the track.

Let's take a quick look at free practices: 

1st. Two spins from Nikita Mazepin on Haas, an accident between Ocon and Perez, a bunch of mistakes from everyone and red flags at the end of the session, session leader Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes. 

1st - highlights:


2nd. This time there were much fewer errors from the pilots, the conditions on the track became more pleasant, in the 11th minute in the second sector, Verstappen's car stopped due to problems with the drive, for Max the training ended there, Mazepin due to departure at the end of 1 practice lost 20 minutes, the team replaced his gearbox, in the last minutes Charles Leclerc crashed the car, taking off in the 18th turn. The driver was not injured. The session was stopped with red flags and decided not to continue, the protocol was headed by Valtteri Bottas. 

Leclair's car after the accident:



2nd - highlights:


3rd. Qualifying in Imola is crucial, Saturday morning, many went on short series of laps with little fuel, trying to get more out of the soft tires - on the eve not everyone managed to get them to work efficiently from the first lap.As well as the day before, there were some accidents.

At the 26th minute, the training was stopped with red flags after the departure of Nicholas Latifi in the sixth turn. The Williams rider hit the barrier, but was able to get back on the track and reach the pits, so there was no need to evacuate the car.

At the end of the session, Kimi Raikkonen found himself in the gravel trap of the last turn without serious consequences. A few minutes later, his team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi flew out in the first chicane on cold tires, but was also able to continue the series of laps.

The protocol was headed by Max Verstappen, having driven the lap in 1:14.958 - almost half a second faster than the nearest rival.

3rd - highlights:


Qualification:

The qualification turned out to be rich in events, from Tsunoda's crash in variante Alta, after which there was a red flag, to both Williams in the second segment and an epic battle for pole position with a difference of 0.087 between 1st and 3rd places.Qualification winner Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), second Sergio Perez (Red Bull), third - Max Verstappen (Red Bull).

Tsunoda crash on varianta Alte:


Hamilton pole lap:


Highlights:


Race.

On the formation lap, Alonso flew into the gravel, but was able to continue moving and returned to the pits to replace the damaged front wing, 25 minutes before the start, the rear brakes on Lance Stroll's car came on - the mechanics were restoring the car at the starting field.
A similar problem arose with Sebastian Vettel's car - the German had to start from the pit lane, and during the race he received a 10-second Stop & Go - no tires were installed on his car at the 5-minute readiness signal.

It started raining 30 minutes before the warm-up lap, Gasli, Okon, Schumacher and Mazepin started on rain tires, the rest - on an intermediate one.

On the warm-up lap, Charles Leclair took off in Acque Minerali, but the car did not get stuck in the gravel and he returned to the track.

At the start, Verstappen overtook Perez and Hamilton to lead the race. Lewis' car on the curb has lost a fragment of the front wing. At the exit of turn 14, Leclair overtook Perez for third place.Latifi flew to Acque Minerali, was able to return, but immediately flew out again, hitting Mazepin's car - and crashed into a wall. 
The safety car drove in. Oсon changed tires, switching from rain tires to intermediate tires.
The rain died down. The track was drying up. Gasly, who started on rain tires, lost position after position - and on the 15th lap changed the rubber to an intermediate one.Norris caught up with Riccardo, McLaren offered the riders to change positions - Daniel missed his partner and Lando quickly pulled away.

On the 22nd lap, Vettel was the first to switch to slicks, on the 23rd, Mick Schumacher did the same, by the 29th lap, all the drivers switched to slicks.

On lap 31, Hamilton, while overtaking Russell, who was behind the lap, flew off the track and bumped into the barrier. He managed to get out of the gravel with the help of reverse gear - and he drove into the pits with a broken front wing.

Hamilton on gravel:


Attacking Bottas, Russell drove two wheels onto the grass, the car jerked towards Valtteri - both cars crashed into barriers, filling the track with debris.

The safety car drove in.

Russel & Bottas crash:


On the 33rd lap race to clear away the debris. The drivers returned to the pits, the teams were able to fix the breakdowns and change the tires.Half an hour later, a restart was announced for the safety car.

Before the restart, the race management allowed the stragglers to return to the same lap with the leader. There was still almost half of the race ahead.

At the restart, Verstappen retained the lead. Norris overtook Leclair for second place. Tsunoda flew into the gravel, but was able to return to the track.

Meanwhile Hamilton:On the 39th lap, ahead of Stroll in the fight for the sixth position
On the 42nd lap, ahead of Riccardo in the fight for fifth place.
On the 50th lap, ahead of Sainz in the fight for fourth place.
On the 55th lap, he overtook Leclerc, moving up to third place.
On lap 60h lap, he overtook Norris to move up to second place.

On the 61st lap Mazepin spins, but he continued to move - this is already the 8th spin of the Russian driver in 2 racing weekends, fans even created a meme site - mazesp.in

The team asked Vettel to return to the pits and retire due to problems with the gearbox.

Max Verstappen won the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix with his first win of the season and 11th in his career. Lewis Hamilton finished second, retaining the lead in the championship due to the best lap. Lando Norris climbed to the third step of the podium.

Race highlights:


In two weeks, the fight will continue in Portimao.

Awesome presentation, Sasha. It's been a while since I've been able to watch Formula 1. I want more rain to see the best drivers. I don't have a favorite driver/ team right now. I love to see Honda winning the race and remember the old days when people were laughing they broke engines in the races.

Any suggestions for what driver I should watch for?

Thanks Flo.

I am a fan of the Ferrari team, and the pilots that drive for it.

And so, for the last 3 years I have been rooting for beautiful races)

Review of last weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix

First free practice:

For the first time since the beginning of the season, not only the main drivers worked in the first training session - in Alfa Romeo Antonio Giovinazzi was replaced by Callum Ilott, who recently signed a contract as a second reserve pilot - the team immediately gave him the opportunity to test the car.

Most teams started the session with hard C1 tires, gradually switching to softer compositions and adding speed. The session went smoothly. Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz drove off the track without consequences for the car.

During the session, the results on the circle were canceled 35 times - 18 times for going off the track in the first turn, 17 times for leaving the fourth. Six violations were committed by Nikita Mazepin, five by Gasly and Leclerc.

Valtteri Bottas topped the protocol with a 1: 19.648 lap on Soft tires - a second worse than his best time in his first training session last year.



Second free practice:

The start of the second workout was postponed for ten minutes due to a broken drain cover fastener at turn 12.

Drivers started the session with a series of laps on Medium tires, which they had not worked with in the first training session, and then switched to Soft.

Verstappen complained about problems with the brake-by-wire and turned into the pits. The team was quickly sorted out and a few minutes later Max left again. Raikkonen's Alfa Romeo had problems, but after a pause, he returned to the track.

As in the morning, many of the drivers had their best lap canceled due to going off-track. In the second session, the results of 30 laps were canceled - 18 for violations in the first corner and 12 for violations in the fourth.

Lewis Hamilton topped the protocol with a 1: 19.837 lap, behind Bottas' morning time.



Third free practice:

On Friday, many failed to get the tires to work, which affected the balance of power. The teams made adjustments and tried to achieve better traction on Saturday morning.

The session began with Mick Schumacher's U-turn on the Haas F1, who said the day before that he had never met such a slippery track, and later turned Kimi Raikkonen and Lando Norris around - without consequences for the cars.

At the 26th minute, the virtual safety car mode was announced - in the penultimate corner, the wind blew off the billboard, which the autodrome employees promptly returned to its place.

At the end of the session, Nikita Mazepin flew into the gravel after the U-turn, but managed to get out and returned to the pits.The protocol was headed by Max Verstappen, having driven a circle in 1: 18.489 - so far this is the best time of the weekend, but in qualifying the drivers will go faster.

On Friday, the lap time due to exits outside the track was canceled 65 times, today the 14th turn was added to the list of untouchables, now violations were automatically detected in four corners at once - in the first, fourth, 14th and 15th - and canceled 23 laps in an hour.



Qualification:

In the first session, the McLaren drivers went to Medium, the rest to Soft. Traffic interfered - at some point all the drivers were on the track, it turned out to be difficult to drive a circle without problems. The drivers worked in a series of laps, alternating fast and slow ones to get the tires to work.At the 14th turn, Alonso turned around - yellow flags appeared for a few seconds, then the Spaniard continued to move. Perez flew into the gravel after the U-turn and was able to get out.In the second attempt, the McLaren racers also went to Soft - and Lando Norris briefly led the protocol, having driven a lap in 1: 18.794, but Bottas drove seven hundredths faster - 1: 18.722.The first 12 cars fit in one second. Riccardo, Stroll, Latifi, Schumacher and Mazepin dropped out of the further struggle. For the first time since Japan'19, Riccardo completed the qualification already in the first session.

In the second session, everyone except Norris, Gasli, Tsunoda, Ocon, Vettel and Alonso left for the first attempt on Medium, hoping to start tomorrow with this lineup. Hamilton showed the best time - 1: 17.968.In the second attempt, no one could surpass Lewis's result. Russell, Giovinazzi, Alonso, Tsunoda and Raikkonen dropped out of the further struggle. For the first time in the last 16 Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel made it to the qualifying final.

In the final, everyone went to Soft. In the first attempt, Bottas topped the protocol - 1: 18.348, seven thousandths ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen's fast lap was canceled due to going off-track in the fourth turn - and he returned to the pits.In the second attempt, Hamilton and Bottas went to Medium - in the second session they were faster on this composition, the rest chose Soft, but the wind intensified and almost no one could improve.Valtteri Bottas won qualification in Portimão, taking the first pole of the season and 17th in his career. Mercedes drivers will occupy the entire first row of the starting field; Red Bull Racing drivers will occupy the entire second. Carlos Sainz is ahead of Charles Leclerc for the first time this season and starts fifth.





Race:

At the start, Bottas retained the lead. Sainz, on soft tires, outpaced Perez who slipped, Norris overtook Oсon. Riccardo was ahead of Tsunoda and Alonso.
On the second lap, Raikkonen hit Giovinazzi's car on the main straight and with a broken suspension dropped out of the fight.
The stewards left the incident without consequences. The safety car drove out - the drivers drove two laps through the pit lane, while on the straight line they were eliminating the consequences of the accident.
On the 6th lap, a restart was announced. Bottas retained the lead. Verstappen overtook Hamilton, Perez and Norris overtook Sainz. Norris got ahead of Perez.
Riccardo beat Giovinazzi and Russell to 11th place.

Stroll overtook Russell.The first three rode in a dense group.

On lap 11, Hamilton overtook Verstappen to regain second position.

lap 14, Tsunoda overtook Russell.

On the 15th, Perez overtook Norris in the fight for the fourth position.

lap 18, Riccardo overtook Vettel for tenth place.

lap 20, Hamilton overtook Bottas to lead the race.Verstappen pressed Valtteri for a long time, keeping the DRS distance, but the speed was not enough to overtake on a straight line - Max complained about the delay when switching to third gear.

On the 22nd lap, Sainz and Tsunoda changed tires, on the 23rd - Vettel, Giovinazzi, Norris and Ocon.On the 25th - Gasli and Latifi, on the 26th - Leclerc - there was a slight hitch with the fastening of the rear left wheel.

On Lap 26, Ocon was ahead of Russell.
On lap 27, Giovinazzi beat Schumacher for 15th, and Vettel beat Russell for 13th.
On the 29th lap, Russell had a pit stop, on the 33rd - Mazepin and Schumacher.

Ocon was ahead of Gasly in the fight for the 11th position.On the 36th lap, Verstappen changed tires, Mercedes responded with a pit stop for Bottas at 37th - and Valtteri went ahead, but in the fifth turn Max overtook Valtteri and was able to break away.

On lap 38, Hamilton changed tires.Sainz missed Leclerc at the request of the team. Charles told the team that he is faster.

On lap 40, Stroll changed tires - the last one to start at Soft.

On the 41st lap, Alonso had a pit stop, on the 42nd - Riccardo.

On Lap 44, Ocon overtook Sainz for seventh place.On the 45th lap Mazepin changed tires. Returning to the track in front of the leading Perez, Nikita blocked him, but there was no contact.

The stewards punished Mazepin with a five-second fine for ignoring the blue flags.On lap 49, Riccardo overtook Gasley for ninth place.On lap 51, Alonso overtook Riccardo for ninth place.

On lap 52, Perez changed tires.Bottas was closing the gap with Verstappen, but on lap 55 he lost two seconds, complaining of a loss of power - the exhaust system overheat sensor was triggered. After a few laps, the speed returned, but the gap was too great to fight for the position.On the 56th lap, Giovinazzi overtook Vettel in the fight for 12th place.

On lap 58, Alonso overtook Sainz for eighth place. On lap 60, Stroll overtook Vettel.On lap 62, Mick Schumacher beat Nicholas Latifi, who made a mistake, to 17th place.

On lap 64, Bottas changed tires while maintaining position and receiving a set of Soft tires for the best lap of the race. But on the 65th lap, Verstappen also received the Soft set - and left the best lap behind him, but drove off the track in the 14th turn - and the result was canceled, and the best lap returned to Bottas.On lap 65, Riccardo overtook Sainz for ninth place.

On lap 66, Gasley beat Sainz for tenth.Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese Grand Prix with his second win of the season and 97th in his career. Max Verstappen finished second, Valtteri Bottas climbed to the third step - this is the 15th joint podium for this three drivers.



Sergio Perez finished fourth with his best result of the season. For Alonso, eighth place was also the best result this year. This weekend the fight will continue in Barcelona. 

Nice. I'll have to find an online stream for Sunday.

Here's a duel from 30 years ago



Can't wait for Monaco 2 weeks later. It's also race day in Il Giro

Yes, there is hope for a good season, although there have been duels over the past 15+ years...
2014-2016 - Lewis Hamilton vs. Nico Rosberg (2014, 2015 Hamilton Champion / 2016 Rosberg Champion)
2012 - Fernando Alonso vs. Sebastian Vettel
2010 is the most amazing season in my memory 4 drivers in title contenders in the final stage of the season.
2008 - Lewis Hamilton vs. Felipe Massa
2007 - Kimi Raikkonen vs. two McLaren`s - Fernando Alonso & Lewis Hamilton
2006 - Fernando Alonso vs. Michael Schumacher