Valtteri Bottas leads Mercedes 1-2 in the chaotic first practice session in Imola

AWelcome to our coverage of the two training sessions on Friday for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola. After a long wait for the race to resume at the beginning of the 2021 season, we again had to wait a long time for Imola. After the brilliant Bahrain Grand Prix, three weeks to race two of the year seem like an annoying amount of time. But from here on, the races come close and fast, provided there are no Covid-related cancellations or postponements, that is …

In that first race we were reminded of the enduring brilliance of Lewis Hamiltonholding back a cargo Max Verstappen – who had taken pole position – in an exciting race that also had a bit to offer strategically. Unfortunately, there was a debate about track restrictions when Verstappen took the lead when he went off the track and gave Hamilton the position back, but overall it was a fantastic start to the season which set up the season well.

The big question this weekend is of course whether the Red Bull advantage is still there. Mercedes has calmed down a bit, but that seems fair enough because they were far from Red Bull in qualifying in Bahrain. Hamilton did a brilliant job and Verstappen lost at least some lap time to a differential problem. I think we’ve learned quite a bit about where the teams really are in Bahrain, but there will likely be some fluctuations and Imola is a very different track from Bahrain too.

Many other questions also need to be answered throughout the area. Can Sergio Perez Close to Verstappen after a difficult debut for Red Bull. Will it be McLaren, Ferrari and AlphaTauri again at the top of the midfield, or can Alpine and Aston Martin develop after a difficult start to the season? Where will Williams be?

Anyway, the first workout starts at 10am CET, so we’ll be here for the full hour and then return to the second workout after lunch. Should be good, great to be with Imola again.