Formula 1 | F1 2021 | Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Preview | Verstappen looks at Imola

• The second round of the 2021 Formula 1 season will take place this weekend in Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
• Lewis Hamilton leads the early drivers’ championship lead after winning in Bahrain
• On GP weekend, the schedule for Prince Phillip’s funeral on Saturday will be changed

IMOLA, ITALY – While the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix takes place this weekend, Lewis Hamilton will attempt to keep rival Max Verstappen at bay again at Imola.

Previously Advantage Hamilton at Imola

While the second round of the Formula 1 season 2021 rolls to Italy this weekend, one of the most famous motor racing circuits will be visible again, as Imola will host the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

With Lewis Hamilton The Briton sits in a not too unusual position at the top of the drivers’ world championship and has taken the lead for the first time in six years after just one race.

The seven-time champions, who took on Max Verstappen in Bahrain two weeks ago, are in the rare position of topping the points table after keeping his rivals at bay. For now.

After Hamilton’s maiden win on his Imola debut last November, there will be an unusual tweak this weekend to hit the paddock and the Brit, but the Stevenage driver and Mercedes could still use it to their advantage.

Verstappen wants to continue the duel

With all the talk of a Hamilton-Verstappen duel in 2021, the 96th and earliest race win in a season since 2015 would have left many in the Red Bull garage decidedly flat, but there was more than enough evidence of optimism.

Verstappen lost less than a second after a 53-round cat-and-mouse game in the desert after delivering an early blow to his likely title rival as the Dutchman tries to end Hamilton-Mercedes’ four-year F1 monopoly .

The Austrian manufacturer can rightly assess its chances of redemption in Italy as positive. The Honda engine could have problems with the unexpected cooler conditions for this time of year, however.

Not only will Verstappen have their sights set on another strong weekend, but a cohort as well Sergio Perez also, who demonstrated his worth to his new team in Sakhir.

After the Mexican stormed through the field to finish in 5th place, he threw a total power outage on his car diseases on opening day two weeks ago in the formation lap.

Perez is on the verge of being unpowered this year and aims to be on the podium regularly in 2021. He finished sixth last fall. He realistically hopes not only to repeat his performance in Bahrain, but to improve it further.

Haas in search of improvement

For Haas F1, the second race weekend of the season is an opportunity to rewrite the early mistakes of the opening day, where their optimism for the upcoming campaign has been subjected to a considerable reality check.

As both debutants Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher In Bahrain he was unable to get a grip on the scorching conditions. The former’s arc lasted only three rounds when the Russian fell out.

Schumacher Jr. would have hoped for greater favor by now when the famous family name returned to the grid, but after starting at the back with his teammate, who both couldn’t escape the first quarter, the German was only able to finish 16th rescue.

There is no doubt that Schumacher Jr. will be in the works during the transition from Formula 2, but for a driver still earmarked by Ferrari as a future player for Scuderia, Schumacher could be on a track this weekend on the his father won to rise on the occasion no less than seven times?

Changed schedule

With F1 returning to Imola for the second year in a row, it’s hard to ignore the obvious feelings of returning to northern Italy and memories of it Ayrton Senna.

With the GP weekend set to take place in the shadow of Bologna, thoughts will turn back home on the British shores Prince Philip‘s funeral after the Duke of Edinburgh passed away last Friday.

Accordingly, the sport in the UK has been jumbled to ensure that there is no competition being played during the Duke’s ceremony – either before or after – and F1 has also chosen to keep the schedule for the Emilia Romagna GP in Regarding it to change.

The funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh takes place on Saturday and during the day The training sessions on the track were postponed by an hour. Qualifying now begins at 2:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. CET) and the last practice session starts at 10:00 a.m. CET.

As a result, Friday training was also postponed in order to keep the timing between sessions. The first one-hour session will take place at 10:00 a.m. CET and the second at 1:30 p.m.

The 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will take place in Imola this weekend.

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