What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
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Rate the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix out of 10
- 10 (11%)
- 9 (31%)
- 8 (36%)
- 7 (15%)
- 6 (4%)
- 5 (2%)
- 4 (1%)
- 3 (0%)
- 2 (0%)
- 1 (1%)
Total Voters: 266
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2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
- Poor Imola pace was “100% tyres”, says Bottas
- Bottas says Imola crash is “history” after reading Russell’s apology
- ‘Lewis and Valtteri are team mates to me as Nicholas is’ says Russell after ‘private’ Wolff talks
- ‘Hamilton didn’t break the rules by reversing’ shouldn’t be a story
- 2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix Star Performers
Debates and polls
- Do Andretti-Cadillac deserve a place on the Formula 1 grid?
- Has Sargeant proved he deserves another season in Formula 1?
- Should the F1 world championship be decided by a 19-lap sprint race?
- Who should Red Bull run in their second F1 team in 2024?
- Should Formula 1 have fewer night races?
Jay
18th April 2021, 16:07
Sprinkler idea should be implemented at the start of every race.
Nitzo (@webtel)
18th April 2021, 16:10
A perfect 9 for me. Very Interesting and entertaining race.
On a side note, the performance gap between Lando and Daniel is alarming !!
Hope he closes the gap in the races to come.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
18th April 2021, 17:18
alarming is that all mercedes powered cars work as one team. I completely disagree this was another bahrain. Mega DRS to ruin the racing.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
18th April 2021, 17:42
Sprinklers are a good idea indeed, so nice to see all that water spray, and it ofc brings better races on average.
John H (@john-h)
18th April 2021, 19:33
Thanks Bernie lol
Jere (@jerejj)
18th April 2021, 16:10
Another exciting race. Italy has provided lots of drama most recently.
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
18th April 2021, 16:10
Decent race and gave it a 7. Pretty scary between Russell and Bottas. A real shame as Russell was running in the points. Also a shame that they kept Gasly on wets for so long. His final finish of 8th could have been far higher
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
18th April 2021, 16:12
I don’t think George will want to come back to Imola… he might be hoping it gets dropped for Miami.
frood19 (@frood19)
18th April 2021, 21:28
Russell definitely didn’t cover himself in glory today and certainly not the way to impress Mercedes. Somehow I think it will also deflect attention away from bottas’s dreadful weekend.
I found it an ok race, lots of skill on show in the wet (and lots of errors) but so many dull as dishwater DRS passes. I can’t stand it. Every time someone easily cruises past on the straight, it makes me love the sport a little bit less. Hamilton’s recovery could have been super exciting, but it left me cold.
Nitzo (@webtel)
18th April 2021, 16:10
A perfect 9 for me. Very Interesting and entertaining race.
On a side note, the performance gap between Lando and Daniel is alarming !!
Hope he closes the gap in the races to come.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
18th April 2021, 16:11
Shaping up to be a cracking season. Max was absolutely faultless today. Perez and Bottas were painfully mediocre… good on Norris making the most of the softs on the restart and holding on till the end. Lewis was incredibly lucky today. Not often you get a podium after sticking it in the wall and going a lap down…
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
18th April 2021, 16:13
He did almost spin before the restart though. Verstappen got off lucky there
Esploratore (@esploratore)
18th April 2021, 16:45
Yes, sometimes people use the word faultless in an overkill-way, I remember hamilton being called fautless in turkey 2020, which was a great race (in general) and a good race for him, but still he went wide and lost a few positions, maybe we need to review the term faultless.
I liked leclerc’s sportsmanlike-ness here (don’t know the proper word).
MacLeod (@macleod)
18th April 2021, 23:31
There is some skill involved it’s not luckly Lewis got when he was a lap behind a red flagged and could unlap him so he could get to second position.
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
18th April 2021, 16:12
Entertaining. 8
carbon_fibre (@carbon_fibre)
18th April 2021, 16:12
7.5
Dave
18th April 2021, 16:13
Better than Mugello 2020.
glynh (@glynh)
18th April 2021, 16:15
9. Plenty of action and incidents with some good close racing. Only downside was the drs being too powerful.
GoldenGaeTea (@retroka)
18th April 2021, 16:16
Daniel: 2020 Mugello
The cooler Daniel: 2021 Emilia.Romagna
9. Minus one from 10 because Williams still didn’t get point.
J_Olivier
18th April 2021, 16:20
It’s impossible for me to enjoy a race when FIA’s corruption and inconsistency in rules enforcing is so evident. So engaging reverse on track is now OK if the driver is Hamilton, still the worst offence in the book for every other driver? Pérez can comply with his penalty when he wants but Vettel within three laps? Rolling start when the rule (stupid rule) says static start?
What a farce.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
18th April 2021, 16:23
Reversing out of the runoff has always been allowed provided it’s done in a safe manor & it’s something drivers have done without issue many times in the past.
Reversing is only banned completely in the pit lane.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
18th April 2021, 16:26
Reverse is banned only in the pits. Rolling or standing start is at the discretion of the race director.
Kyle (@hammerheadgb)
18th April 2021, 16:28
Hamilton isn’t even the first case of reversing on track this season, nothing was done in the previous instance either.
The Race Control message was clear that the Perez penalty was 10 seconds time not a stop-go, although the F1 graphics man messed up. Stop-go penalties are always to be taken within three laps.
Also I can see why a standing start on a partially wet track with the field on slicks was decided against.
Anon
18th April 2021, 16:40
1. Appendix L of the International Sporting Code states:
Personally, I think the TV cameras didn’t capture enough of the track to determine whether or not it was safe. But there were some very large gaps during the first half of the race so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s all good.
2. Perez’s penalty was miscommunicated to the TV broadcast. He received a 10 second time penalty, not a stop-go (this is on the FIA website). How the FIA managed to do this is beyond me but Red Bull clearly received the right info and abided to the rules perfectly well.
3. Article 42.12 of the Sporting Regulations state:
I think it was clear that re-starting the race with a standing start would have been unfair, and therefore ‘unsuitable’ as defined by the rules. I think it was definitely the fairest and best option for the re-start.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
18th April 2021, 16:43
The reason it is impossible for you to enjoy a race seems to be because of your ignorance. Perez’s penalty was not a stop/go penalty like Vettel’s and you are allowed to reverse from a run-off area to the track as long as it’s done safely. Ricciardo tried to do precisely that in Baku 2019 (although he hit Kvyat).
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
18th April 2021, 17:23
the reversing does not get me. It is all the rest that irks me. All merc cars letting Ham through also yet again an amazing series of events gets Ham off the hook. Pérez penalty is ridiculous, it benefits the perpetrator. Going for a rolling start even though the rules state you should have a regular start. MDRS is another joke extending something that should not exist and clearly benefits one manufacturer.
MXMXD (@mxmxd)
18th April 2021, 17:34
Why would Norris and Ricciardo fight a faster car while they’re on softer tires? Seems like an awful plan, especially as Ricciardo was very close to lose 6th to Stroll (and eventually even 7th to Gasly).
Jockey Ewing
18th April 2021, 18:45
At the restart with Lando probably they aimed a very distant shot for the GP win, by choosing the softs, and taking the 3rd place as a wost case scenario if it not works and he gets beaten for example by Leclerc. What could have been a very sound first victory for Lando, or for McLaren too, after not winning a GP a long time ago. With a likely 3rd place, if it ends up bad, instead of the 2nd, they might have tried it.
Idk whether you are trolling about the letting through, or not, Peartree but, I had a feeling that yes, maybe the Mercedes engined cars are letting Hamilton through, but in the case of Ricciardo it was quite reasonable, as Ricciardo had a weaker than usual weekend, and struggled a bit, and engine manufacturers’ word is very strong at today’s F1. So except Lando’s nice effort to resist, they might have done that. Although of course this is not unprecedented, supplied teams often did small favors to the “A” team on and off track as well, as testbeds, as opinion-mates in politics, it is true in the case of other engine manufacturers as well. Although this, I don’t really like, as this softens the competition a bit sometimes. I think it would have been a very bad thing to ask McLaren to yield with Lando, because a really top-notch result was close both for the driver and the team as well.
When I checked how many laps to go after the restart on softs although, I was pretty sure that this is likely a long shot. Or probably they have not had a set of mediums in perfect condition, as another possibility. But in this case, the long shot for to making it to the headlines seems to be reasonable.
Hamilton made an unlikely recovey, so considering him as an opponent for the battle for 2nd was not in the equation, while Lando had a good enogh chance against the Ferraris even on the softs.
John H (@john-h)
18th April 2021, 19:37
Is that really the rule @peartree? I thought it was at the discretion of the race director to decide either standing or SC start.
John H (@john-h)
18th April 2021, 19:45
Article 42.9. if conditions are deemed unsuitable then a rolling start will be called. This is at the discretion at the race director. I was also disappointed it wasn’t a standing start, but it wasn’t going against their own rules however much you would like to say it was.
GoldenGaeTea (@retroka)
18th April 2021, 17:28
If there is corruption, then Verstappen got penalty for first corner incident. Bruh
MG1982 (@mg1982)
18th April 2021, 18:33
Neah, over the years we were told that for lap1 rules are relaxed. Nothing happened there to give VER any penalty.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
19th April 2021, 14:45
@mg1982 100% agree, that was a proper elbows out move and Lewis would have done exactly the same had their positions been reversed. Max knows it, Lewis knows it – hence the lack of any commentary about it, beyond Lewis chancing it with a moan at the race director as it happened (as every driver should.)
@retroka is making the point, that if there were a conspiracy, to always favor Hamilton, then that would have been a 5s penalty for Max…
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
18th April 2021, 16:21
I think the first half was fun with the wet/damp track but then as soon as it dried & they turned on the DRS gimmick wing it became a lot less interesting as it was a bit too powerful.
I also believe the gimmick DRS wing contributed to the accident with Bottas & Russell. When you have such an absurd closing speed on a damp track with 1 dry line & a ‘straight’ with 2 kinks it in then it just becomes super dangerous.
I just hope we one day get to a point where we don’t ever have to suffer through such an artificial & gimmickey gimmick that takes so much away from the racing & prevents us been able to watch some proper racing/racecraft resulting in some actually exciting proper overtaking. But since it’s still on the cars next year i’ve zero faith we won’t see it in action beyond this year sadly :(
Minardi (@gitanes)
18th April 2021, 16:33
I agree with you about DRS being dangerous and that is contributed to the crash today. I am so disappointed that its not being removed for next year.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
18th April 2021, 16:45
@gitanes I hope it’s gone for 2023. We should see the impact of the new regs first.
frood19 (@frood19)
18th April 2021, 21:41
@roger-ayles well put, DRS sucks. It’s ruining the whole race for me. Honestly, I’d rather see the trulli trains of years past than these contrived motorway passes. There is literally no defensive driving anymore, drivers barely even bother to defend. It’s a travesty really.
TFLB (@tflb)
18th April 2021, 16:23
I gave it a 5. Okay, some of the early slippy-slidy stuff was fun. But after the restart it was wrecked both by the fact it’s impossible to overtake normally, and by the fact that the DRS was ridiculously overpowered.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
18th April 2021, 16:24
Exciting first half of the race with lots of incidents and driver errors. But fairly dull after the restart and has to lose a few points as it became clear DRS was far too strong and Lewis had a fairly straight forward recovery to second. Was swithering between 7 and 8 but decided on a 7 overall.
Dom (@3dom)
18th April 2021, 16:24
Wow, what a race! Some serious drama and battles through the whole field. Tricky conditions where the drivers had to keep it going and if so the result could exceed expectations (as Sainz and Hamilton demonstrated today).
What a talented bunch of drivers we have in F1 right now. If the 2022 regs do make the cars more race-able then the future is incredibly bright indeed . For now I’m relishing the prospect of a closely fought 2021. Bring it on!
AliceD (@aliced)
18th April 2021, 16:25
7/10
Spoiled by how easy it was for LH to go from 6th to 2nd place. I fear that Mercedes is going to win at least the drivers championship this year again.
DeanR (@deanr)
18th April 2021, 16:28
What would make you happy Alice? Please, let us know what your metric is? I think Lewis finishing last no matter the racing that takes place?
Lewis made 2 mistakes today…are you not happy with that? Suck it up sweetheart.
S
18th April 2021, 16:46
Touchy.
Can’t let someone have a different opinion on Hamilton, eh?
Most who aren’t his biggest fans are getting a bit fatigued by now.
DeanR (@deanr)
18th April 2021, 18:29
Not at all. See my comments further down the thread. Well done Max. Simply better today. I’ve never seen anything close to magnanimous from Alice when Lewis smashes it. That’s all.
Gigantor (@kbdavies)
18th April 2021, 16:29
But not spoiled that Max was able to win by 22 secs, despite 2 safety cars and a red flag?
I think that fear may eventually eat you up.
David BR (@david-br)
18th April 2021, 16:46
@aliced 9th to 2nd you mean. Even scarier. Stay calm.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
18th April 2021, 16:50
Yes, maybe I should’ve given it 9, I was sorry that norris didn’t get 2nd place, it was deserved (although ferrari was also robbed by the red flag, but that’s the rules), and obviously with DRS it was kinda expected that a mercedes driver who has some guts (not bottas) would’ve been able to pass these guys, however I was thinking with DRS train they’d have kept him behind, but the moment leclerc lost the DRS on norris that’s when hamilton got 2nd place.
Mayrton
18th April 2021, 18:05
Yes to me the Mercedes is still the strongest car and the one to beat. Lewis pace in free air was a worryingly reminder of past years. Nevertheless RedBull seems to have made a step and with Max driving the car the gap is smaller than ever before. So some more victories for RedBull are on the table.
DeanR (@deanr)
18th April 2021, 16:25
Great race! Solid 7 for me. Max was supreme today! Brilliant!
First corner incident… Lewis should know better than to hang it around the outside like that. He was more than half a car level but you’re never going to stick that on a driver like max. Lewis is the king of holding the inside so should’ve known what was coming. It may have cost him the race too as that damaged wing hampered his progress. Happy with the damage limitation Lewis pulled off but today Max was the driver of the day (Norris? No way) Congrats Dutchies. On to the next one…
Mashiat (@mashiat)
18th April 2021, 16:48
@deanr I agree Hamilton should have been wiser at Turn 2. I think he was trying to go for the move where he basically tries to hang it just long enough around the outside that the guy on the inside either backs off or bangs wheels and spins off. Like he tried with Vettel in Monza 2018.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
18th April 2021, 16:25
An excellent race. An eight from me.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
18th April 2021, 16:34
I gave it a 7 as while I did enjoy the early part of the race I didn’t enjoy the end as much as it was always obvious that DRS been as powerful as it was was going to help Lewis just easily drive by the cars ahead.
I know Norris held him off for a few laps but even so it was always inevitable that he was going to get the move done & I personally just don’t like it when the racing is like that with the DRS.
melanos
18th April 2021, 16:38
Could have been a watchable race without DRS and the red flag. 3
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
18th April 2021, 17:10
The red flag was sensible and it didn’t stop the race for so long. No way the marshalls could have dealt with all that debris an a live track
KaIIe (@kaiie)
18th April 2021, 16:41
I gave it a 7/10. While not overly exciting, it had a pretty clear narrative (i.e. Verstappen v Hamilton; can Hamilton climb back to P2 at the end) that made it quite fun to watch. Some more rain after the track dried out would’ve been fun.
Niefer (@niefer)
18th April 2021, 16:42
7/10. Good fun, though unfortunate for Hamilton’s mistake depriving us from the 2nd round for the lead in the race. Also, points deducted because of the friggin DRS which ruined some great defending.
I’m not sure Red Bull’s poise is gonna last long. Here’s hoping.
GoldenGaeTea (@retroka)
18th April 2021, 21:38
The two Alpine and Perez didn’t overtake Raikkönen and it was not like 2011 Turkey or 2019 Belgian, it was more like meh.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
18th April 2021, 16:43
1 (1%)
2 (0%)
3 (0%)
4 (0%)
5 (1%)
6 (1%)
7 (20%)
8 (35%)
9 (33%)
10 (9%)
Total Voters: 80
Here’s the current results, I was very undecided between 10 and 9, I eventually voted 10 but I’m not sure, here it’s probably a race where half marks would be good, for a 9,5, because what I liked is:
1) it rained
2) there were lots of mistakes
3) there were lots of overtakes
4) there was lots of unpredictability
5) unusual people fighting for the top places
Could’ve been better if it rained more or without DRS, I agree with some that it made some overtakes too easy, and I remember imola from the 2005-2006 times being a track where it’s very hard to overtake, norris deserved more for example, and had leclerc resisted more laps, since he had drs available as long as he was close to norris, likely norris would’ve had 2nd place.
GoldenGaeTea (@retroka)
18th April 2021, 17:24
Fans when there is DRS: This too easy
Fans when there is no DRS: This is boring
John H (@john-h)
18th April 2021, 19:48
Most people against DRS do not call races boring. And when was there a recent race without DRS exactly? That’s right, they don’t bother to try one.
Scotty (@rockonscotty)
18th April 2021, 16:44
Hey Keith, can we start a pole on how many times Nikita is going to spin off track the season. I think we are almost at 10 already.
DeanR (@deanr)
18th April 2021, 18:34
Or Tsunoda maybe? That hype train fell off the wheels BIG time this weekend!
pSynrg (@psynrg)
19th April 2021, 14:55
@rockonscotty Massivespin, Mazespin, Marzipan?
pSynrg (@psynrg)
19th April 2021, 14:56
https://whendidmazepinspin.com/
http://mazesp.in/
My point being that one has been done to death already…
Scotty (@rockonscotty)
19th April 2021, 15:01
I hadn’t seen the Maldonado inspired web site. Thank for sharing! 🤣
S
18th April 2021, 16:48
7. Pretty good for F1 – but it’s still F1.
Wish they’d turn the DRS down.
DeanR (@deanr)
18th April 2021, 18:38
What? I mean
.. why? How? What the….? You do know you tuned into an F1 RACE, right? You didn’t pick this up mistaking it for the Coronation Street Omnibus,
S
19th April 2021, 3:31
So it could have been better.
I don’t think F1 is the greatest thing in the world. Even an ordinary race in some other series is better than this, quite often.
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
18th April 2021, 16:57
Very good – 8.
It could be more if Hamilton’s car wasn’t damaged in Lap 1.
Many battles, but Max’s P1 was never in doubt after Lap 1.
David
18th April 2021, 17:06
8 for me, nearly a 9 but Max was never really in doubt for the win once he took the lead. Few too many SCs as well, need to get clearing incidents done quicker.
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
18th April 2021, 17:12
They dealt with the Russell/Bottas crash in the mist sensible way
Adam (@rocketpanda)
18th April 2021, 17:08
It was pretty good. Verstappen seemed to be in a class of his own – around the only driver that hardly made a mistake apart from one minor slide. Perez, Ricciardo & Bottas were super bland, but Norris & Leclerc were excellent. What were AlphaTauri doing leaving Gasly out so long?
Still jawdropped at Hamilton’s luck though. Slid off, a lap down and then a red flag brings him right back into contention again. Also given the ease he blew from 9th to 2nd kinda shows that car isn’t quite the ‘slow underdog’ that Mercedes and the commentators seem to insist. Even with damage he was easily keeping with the Red Bull.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
18th April 2021, 17:26
He is lucky for sure, but also does seem to do a good job at recovering the car from positions where other drivers may have given up on it. He did something similar in Germany 2019 where everyone else was sliding off at that last corner and retiring. He also went off, but managed to keep it going, finish the race and salvage some points. So he gives himself the opportunity to benefit from the luck.
DeanR (@deanr)
18th April 2021, 18:49
Today Lewis had some luck in his side, for sure but how many times does Lewis have to be “lucky” before you acknowledge his undeniable, sublime talent? Once is luck, twice coincidence, thrice a pattern.
DeanR (@deanr)
18th April 2021, 18:51
Replied to wrong comment, apologies
Mikef117
18th April 2021, 18:22
Adam,
If the car is so good, why was Lewis’ team-mate languishing in 9th?
I’ll give you the answer – for the same reason Max’s was in about 12th…..
Sure, the car makes a difference (for all 4 drivers) and I wouldn’t deny car development is swayed towards the no.1 drivers liking, but, IMHO, it is not the be all and end all of the discussion. Driver ability is the ingredient you are missing
Mayrton
18th April 2021, 21:32
Yes, Hamilton got lucky there and subsequently delivered a superb drive. The Mercedes in free air race pace clearly shows there is no underdog position for Mercedes, that’s just marketing talk to encapture audience for Liberty. The rest have caught up, yes but thats about it. Still it should make for more variation on the podium and more wins for RedBull I guess. No doubt the prices will go to Mercedes in the end. Good to see McLaren up there with Ferrari in the mix trailing after RedBull. Enough ingredients for a decent season.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
18th April 2021, 17:22
First half was decent. Second half after the restart was boring, the only thing of interest they had to show was LH making his way back up to 2nd. So bit of a race of two halves.
Montréalais (@)
18th April 2021, 17:27
It was an exciting race – 8 for me. My wife has just started watching the races (after the over-the-top Netflix showing of Drive to Survive) and she was on the edge of her seat at times. She’s hooked.
MXMXD (@mxmxd)
18th April 2021, 17:35
9 for Imola. But 7.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
18th April 2021, 17:40
8/10
Solid race overall, with mixed conditions playing a role in a more exciting race. The grid is much tighter which is nice and we finally have a championship battle in the making
DeanR (@deanr)
18th April 2021, 18:44
Yeh…I’d hold fire on that. Much the same was said in 2017, 2018 & 2019 when Ferrari were close in the first few races or so. I hope you’re right but need much longer to confirm a genuine WDC challenge. (Thar said… Red Bull are not as incompetent as Ferrari)
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
18th April 2021, 19:49
Yeah, i do hope Red Bull can do a proper championship campaign without following Ferrari’s 2018 pattern(aka losing it midways).
slowmo (@slowmo)
18th April 2021, 17:44
Must have been a different race to what I watched, it was a 6 for me. Might have been a 7 had there been any challenge for Verstappen after the restart but there wasn’t. At least the red flag was justified for a change.
John H (@john-h)
18th April 2021, 20:08
Drivers were making mistakes all over the shop, lots of things going on in this race. Ok no real battle for the lead, but battles throughout the field. Seems like we did watch a different race to you @slowmo!
slowmo (@slowmo)
18th April 2021, 21:08
I’ve had a think and I really can’t rate it more than 7 at the very best. Most position changes were a result of mistakes rather than good overtaking. The red flag pretty much neutered any slow burn battles that were building. Each to their own though.
Stephen Dimmock (@sd100852)
18th April 2021, 17:59
Charlie would have almost certainly got a podium if it wasn’t for the massive crash, which was a big shame. But at least Lando got 3rd (without needing help from penalties like Austria last year too)
Hamilton did well to go back up to 2nd but highly doubt he would have been anywhere near that if red flag didn’t happen
Humb S (@humb)
18th April 2021, 19:58
Exciting race!
Still mulling over:
1) Russell, whilst being blue flagged didn’t give up the dry ground, but Hamilton wasn’t pointing fingers at him, then Bottas did the same to him (and they were actually racing each other) and George fumed; I didn’t get it, only he are allowed to set up a trap?;
2) If Hamilton had steered his car towards Max’s car some people would still say the first corner incident was a race incident. It was to me, but I have this feeling that in an inversed role scenario, some blokes here would be mad);
3) Is it so easy to ignore that Max almost lost the lead by his own before the restart? He wasn’t faultless, even though he was stellar: did exactly what was expected from him today with the faster car for today;
4) Someone here pointed that the SC and the red flag wasn’t enough to prevent the Redbull number 33 to finish more than 20 seconds clear its closest competitor, I wonder if this become a trend the same people that are complaining about Mercedes dominance would be OK with that?
Illusive (@illusive)
18th April 2021, 20:08
Lewis should be a gamble too, his luck is unbelievable. Great race though, Redbull is looking strong hope they keep the pace in development, they have the most talented driver on the grid who can take on the Mercedes.
Balue (@balue)
18th April 2021, 21:22
It’s not really that exciting just because the race was reset. Yes the field is closer this season, and there were more mistakes because of the conditions, but generally it was usual Imola with cars following eachother and pit stop racing. It was ironic to see Alonso again doing the last part of the race within a second to the next car without anything happening.
roodda (@roodda)
18th April 2021, 21:59
Before the red flag: 9/10
After the red flag: 6.5-7/10
Superb first half of the race, lots of passing, fighting and different strategies at play.
In the dry, the race for the podium places was ruined by an over-powerful DRS. It didn’t need to be 200m longer than last year! Hamilton cruised passed everyone. It’s weird to see a guy make an (uncharacteristic) error, spend an eternity in the gravel, need a front wing change and drop a lap, and still finish second. Compared to Perez, who made an error and got a 10 second penalty (and his team didn’t bother to help him out here by checking with RC what to do), have a spin and finish 11th
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
19th April 2021, 0:53
Toyed between 8 and 9 but went for 9 in the end. Incidents and accidents up and down the field and some tricky conditions. It kept me entertained and excited although there was never any doubt that Max was going to win after the pit stops.
Good drives by Max, Lando and Charles. I think Pierre would have been a lot closer but for being lumbered with the wet tyres.
Dr Sven (@svend1)
19th April 2021, 1:51
Great race with lots of action! 9/10. Mostly thanks to the rain, of course.
Norris and Leclerc high up, Other drivers struggling (Perez, Bottas, Tsunoda).
To all who downvote because of “boring DRS”, “artificial DRS”, etc: will there EVER be a good F1 race until DRS is banned? Personally, I think DRS is mostly a good thing, because it ensures that the standings at the chequered flag is NOT the same as after the first three corners. At some tracks DRS is a bit too powerful, but that wasn’t the case today.
Keith M Crossley
19th April 2021, 3:38
Agree!