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2021 Emilia Romagna GP race day


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Poll: 2021 Emilia Romagna GP (128 member(s) have cast votes)

Race winner

  1. Hamilton (31 votes [24.22%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 24.22%

  2. Perez (11 votes [8.59%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 8.59%

  3. Verstappen (57 votes [44.53%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 44.53%

  4. Leclerc (7 votes [5.47%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 5.47%

  5. Gasly (2 votes [1.56%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 1.56%

  6. Ricciardo (1 votes [0.78%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 0.78%

  7. Norris (12 votes [9.38%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 9.38%

  8. Bottas (1 votes [0.78%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 0.78%

  9. Someone else (6 votes [4.69%] - View)

    Percentage of vote: 4.69%

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#2001 Astandahl

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 09:56

That's just as much speculation, I have not seen any statement that Ferrari's engine is somehow less trimmed for race distance than competitors. What I saw last year was that time and time again Leclerc put in stunning laps in qualifying, leaving Vettel half a second behind. Come race day, Vettel was no longer as far behind. I think driving style is very likely a factor here, but that's not necessarily a criticism. When the car is not as well balanced, a good driver is able to mask that somewhat over a single lap, but not over a race distance. George Russell is another good example of this. He got quite a bit of criticism last year that his race performances are not as good as his qualifyings, but I think it comes down to the same issue as with Leclerc.

Each car is different. The SF 21 is a midfield car and absolutely not able to compete with the Red Bull and Mercedes. Leclerc was 0.1s behind Bottas in Bahrain qualifying but immediately almost 1s slower in the race and Bottas is nothing special in race trim.

 

Norris would have been third in qualifying, ahead of Verstappen. In the race, with slick tyres, was much slower. Everyone is slow in the race and fast in quali?


Edited by Astandahl, 19 April 2021 - 09:59.


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#2002 TomNokoe

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 09:59

Haven't read anything about this, but it annoyed me:

Alonso was in the gravel at same time Bottas and Russell were in the gravel. Has this guy not learned anything yet after his bizarre 2003 crash? How in the world do you lose control at a double yellow situation. Parts everywhere. Drivers still getting out of their cars. And there is Alonso, loosing control of his car... SLOW. THE. F. DOWN dude.


He was crawling, it's just these stupid oversized cars and sensitive Pirellis.

Onboard video

#2003 Lights

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 10:04

Pretty clear from that video that Alonso was just trying to avoid as much debris as possible.

 

That put him partially on the wet line and that caused the spin.

 

Nothing reckless about it, just looked a bit silly.



#2004 JeePee

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 10:09

Jup. I take back what I said   :up:



#2005 ANF

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 10:09

I'd give that pirouette an 8.5.



#2006 rf90

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 10:17

I do think we are going to see a lot more mistakes than we are used to from Hamilton and Mercedes this year; they can't control things like they used to. 

 

Likewise, Max needs to cut down on his errors that he's perhaps got away with in the past as now the spotlight is fully on him. 

 I would agree if the remaining races consisted of equal performance RB and Merc, as we had at Bahrain. However, my feeling is that Imola showed signs that the Merc steamroller is gaining momentum and will become unbeatable again. We will have to wait until 2022 to see if the Merc dominance is over. 



#2007 robefc

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 10:33

Was Ham tyres after red flag over 5 laps fresher than anybody else?


I’m assuming everyone changed tyres? Except Lewis as he changed under SC so just had one SC lap on them.

#2008 noikeee

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 10:46

This actually reminds me of 2002/2004, when Ferrari sometimes couldn't even get pole and would then blitz the field on Sunday.

 

But back then this was a consequence of the different tyre characteristics, now we have the same tyres and qualy modes are banned. The only thing I can think of is additional downforce keeping the tyres in the window, but this is still a bit baffling: all teams lose a lot of ground to the top 2 on Sunday, not just one car/driver combination. :confused:

 

Yeah this is an interesting observation. It seems like RB and Merc are a little ahead on Saturday but come Sunday they wake up and that little advantage becomes huge. No idea what it is, though something to do with tyre management and being able to get much closer to the peak performance of the tyres without wearing them out, seems a good guess.



#2009 Marklar

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 10:49

Was Ham tyres after red flag over 5 laps fresher than anybody else?

not exactly, but almost

4 laps younger than Max and Leclerc. 5 laps younger than Sainz and Stroll



#2010 Astandahl

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 11:09

Yeah this is an interesting observation. It seems like RB and Merc are a little ahead on Saturday but come Sunday they wake up and that little advantage becomes huge. No idea what it is, though something to do with tyre management and being able to get much closer to the peak performance of the tyres without wearing them out, seems a good guess.

In 2019 Binotto provided an interesting explanation of why the SF 90 wasn't able to keep up in the race. The extra grip available with the soft tyres over one lap was "compensating" the car weaknesses (lack of DWF) but that wasn't possible during the race. In Hungary for example Ferrari was around 0.4s behind in quali but around 1s slower per lap in the race



#2011 eibyyz

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 13:36

Did I miss something, or did it take about half the race before DRS was enabled?  If so, why was that?



#2012 shure

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 13:37

Did I miss something, or did it take about half the race before DRS was enabled?  If so, why was that?

damp conditions, I should imagine.  Not safe for DRS



#2013 eibyyz

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 13:41

damp conditions, I should imagine.  Not safe for DRS

 

Thanks!  I didn't know 'safe conditions' was codified, though. :well:



#2014 Paco

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 13:42

First reaction: What a race!

- Verstappen: Brilliant drive. Tiny mistake during SC, but apart from that just quick and smart driving all day.
- Hamilton: Sure he was lucky, yes he was too eager in the first lap and his mistake mid-race was a real blunder, but compare him to Bottas while they are overtaking... Such difference in quality! Didn't allow Verstappen to cool down.
- Norris: Great drive, great all weekend. Love how his performance is making me wonder: Is he that quick or does Ricciardo do so much wrong?
- Leclerc: Sainz knows he has to work for his teammate after this race.
- Bottas: Unlucky crash, but this was a weekend to forget for him. Has he ever cracked this early in a season?
- Perez: Weird race. Reliability issues, rookie mistakes... Hard to imagine he started P2. RBR wont tolerate for too many races, I reckon. It was his job to keep Hamilton from P2.

EDIT: Can we please agree Verstappen doesn't crack under pressure? :wave:

Max nearly ended his race on the restart. He was lucky his crack didn’t end in RB tears.

Edited by Paco, 19 April 2021 - 13:44.


#2015 shure

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 13:53

Thanks!  I didn't know 'safe conditions' was codified, though. :well:

I don't have the rule to hand but DRS is never enabled on a wet track.  Not sure how dry a track has to be to be declared fully dry but the fact they were all on inters or full wets tells us that it definitely wasn't a dry track, hence the lack of DRS



#2016 Augurk

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 14:10

I don't have the rule to hand but DRS is never enabled on a wet track.  Not sure how dry a track has to be to be declared fully dry but the fact they were all on inters or full wets tells us that it definitely wasn't a dry track, hence the lack of DRS

I think they usually start allowing DRS once drivers are swapping to dry weather tires (and staying on track).



#2017 IceSpeed

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 14:15

I don't have the rule to hand but DRS is never enabled on a wet track. Not sure how dry a track has to be to be declared fully dry but the fact they were all on inters or full wets tells us that it definitely wasn't a dry track, hence the lack of DRS


I recall DRS being enabled in a wet Suzuka in 2014 when Lewis was chasing Nico and went off at the first corner because he didn’t close his DRS in time. Unless the rules have changed since then.

#2018 Laptom

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 14:19

Unfair to whom? I don't think that's the right justification for it.
Safety cars are unfair for whoever is leading and closed pitlanes are unfair for whoever wants to box.
Since when does it matter how "unfair" something is - it's always relative to one driver or another.


Unfair for the people in the wet side of the track. You know at that time the track was partially dry? It is not only fair a rolling start, but also the most save way during wet conditions. There is absolutely no race director who would do a standing start under these conditions.

#2019 shure

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 14:32

I recall DRS being enabled in a wet Suzuka in 2014 when Lewis was chasing Nico and went off at the first corner because he didn’t close his DRS in time. Unless the rules have changed since then.

i think it's the discretion of the stewards whether they feel it's safe or not



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#2020 Requiem84

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 14:33

It seems we're talking in most length about the mistake with the least impact of the whole race...



#2021 inox

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 14:37

I think it was a great race in Imola this year. The weather helped of course, but moving DRS zone 140 m earlier certainly helped overtaking too. It seemed to be quite spot on now as overtaking was possible but not too easy. All Mercedes PU cars were fast on the straight though, which limited possibilities to overtake Merc powered cars. For example it was quite evident that PU limited Leclerc from having any proper attack on Norris. Hamilton had much more speed on the straight and in general appeared to have fastest car when the track dried out.

At the sametime we can say that good old Imola was back. The main "straight" is special with its ultra fast kink approaching the Tamburello. It gives some of the same feel of danger that old Tamburello used to have when cars ran side by side.

Hopefully this was not the last time F1 visits Imola.

#2022 Requiem84

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 15:04

So what? It's actually an interesting mistake because it's something that doesn't happen very often. I know you don't like it when people dwell on Max's mistakes but it's an interesting talking point.

It's funny to come with these personal claims about someone who was talking in length about Max' qualifying mistakes. 

 

Let's keep the personal elements out of this conversation, shall we? 



#2023 SophieB

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Posted 19 April 2021 - 15:07

The Leclerc potential overtake is an interesting ‘what if’ to kick about and I’ve kicked it out to here:

 

https://forums.autos...rt-split-topic/



#2024 FirstnameLastname

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Posted 20 April 2021 - 19:13

50-ADEE8-A-953-B-4-E18-ABEE-947-DED6-A9-

#2025 w1Y

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Posted 20 April 2021 - 20:07

All PU manufacturers must apply the same PU mode for all PU's. That means that Honda is required to run the same engine mode for both RB's and both AT's. If they would follow your 'trick', it would mean that during the race, Honda would suddenly ask both RB drivers and both AT drivers to change the engine mode to the 'limp home' mode. After the race, the FIA is required to verify whether this change was within the regulations (as was done in Bahrain).

Now, if all 4 Honda cars suddenly change their PU mode in the race, don't you think the FIA will raise questions?

In other words: this simply is not possible.

Why not change them before the race. Isnt that what happened in Bahrain?

#2026 shure

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Posted 21 April 2021 - 08:10

Why not change them before the race. Isnt that what happened in Bahrain?

can't be changed after qualifying



#2027 Requiem84

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Posted 21 April 2021 - 09:41

Why not change them before the race. Isnt that what happened in Bahrain?

 

Change the whole PU?



#2028 Clatter

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Posted 21 April 2021 - 17:57

Why not change them before the race. Isnt that what happened in Bahrain?

 


The PU modes are fixed once Q starts. In Bahrain Verstappen's mode was switched to a lower mode during the race.

#2029 Claymore25

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Posted 21 April 2021 - 19:28

What a race that was! Edge of your seat stuff til the very end. 

Interesting to see both protagonists making mistakes when driving on the edge this week. Hopefully that cools down both camps on these forums a bit. They're driving on the limit and sometimes over it. They're still human after all. We're in for a helluva year like this. 

 

Few noteworthy things:

Excellent start by Max, did all that he needed to do to recover from yesterday.

Had a bit of a pace drop off near the end of his inter stint, but managed to fix it by switching earlier to the mediums, which I think was a very thrilling moment in the race.

 

Hamilton had a bit of a bad getaway and was skilfull enough to not drop back to P3, which was a real risk there. 

Then later on caught a big stroke of luck with the red flag, otherwise he'd be facing a large gap in the standings by now. Then managed to make it work brilliantly and unfortunately showed how hard it is to get DRS balanced. It was not enough for some cars, but gives an absolute inescapable advantage to a faster car. 

 

Norris did an amazing job all weekend. He delivered big time. Stuck behind Ric first, but after the swap he left him behind easily. 

Also great job defending to Hamilton a couple of laps but it was a fight he could only lose eventually. 

 

Leclerc great race! Also a very mature race, didn't see him put as much as a foot wrong except his little slide on the warm up lap. But no harm no foul. 

Great pace as well.

 

Sainz, out of all the "guys with a new car" he was surely on top of things even if he made a few mistakes early on. 

 

Then a few bad words.

Perez, had a slightly worse start than Max and then messed up yielding his place to Charles. Then kept piling on mistake after mistake. Granted, looking at all the guys with new cars these were extremely tough conditions. 

Judgement will stay out for now but he will need a big result quickly to get the chip of his shoulder.

 

Ric & Alonso both lead star drivers being driven away by their younger team mates. Ric was completely outclassed, though I suppose we've never seen him be a star at wet driving. Alonso was just not on it this race. Hopefully he can regain his former strength in races to come. 

 

Bottas ... tricky conditions and he's no where. Topped by his horrid qualifying yesterday. This is a weekend to forget quickly, and he's raking those up faster than he's raking up wins, which is a shame for someone driving that car. 

Didn't think he did anything wrong with Russell. 

 

Tsunoda - fast guy but has a steep learning curve ahead of him to get some patience in him.

 

Vettel - if he doesn't get on it soon and start beating Stroll he should hang up his helmet. Please let's not witness this for another 3 years.

 

Mazepin - this guy is so out of his depth in F1 it's worrying. 

 

Russell - managed to ruin his race into the points yet again. Just like last year in Imola. Not doing himself any favours. 

 

Vettel had to start from the pits. Not his fault.

He had a penalty because of a fault of his team.

His races finished with a dnf because reliability issues

 

He could not have done any more. During the race he was ahead of Kimi before he got the penalty.

 

He was truly unlucky here in Imola.



#2030 Augurk

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Posted 21 April 2021 - 21:03

Vettel had to start from the pits. Not his fault.

He had a penalty because of a fault of his team.

His races finished with a dnf because reliability issues

 

He could not have done any more. During the race he was ahead of Kimi before he got the penalty.

 

He was truly unlucky here in Imola.

You're right, on reflection I was a bit harsh towards him in my post. 

Bases solely on his Sunday performance it was ok. 

 

What shone through in my post is my disappointment so far, I was really rooting for him to find his mojo again with Force India Racing Point Aston Martin. And Stroll was an ok driver most of last year but not the bar he should be setting for himself (and is not even reaching by now). 



#2031 Claymore25

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Posted 21 April 2021 - 22:58

You're right, on reflection I was a bit harsh towards him in my post. 

Bases solely on his Sunday performance it was ok. 

 

What shone through in my post is my disappointment so far, I was really rooting for him to find his mojo again with Force India Racing Point Aston Martin. And Stroll was an ok driver most of last year but not the bar he should be setting for himself (and is not even reaching by now). 

 

In Bahrein your statement was true. He was poor there. In Imola just unlucky. My guess is that he is adapting to AM just like Ricciardo in McLaren and Perez in Red Bull.