Urheil went through the most significant topics and solutions of the fourth F1 race of the season in Imola with expert Jukka Mildh. Valtteri Bottas was great. Stable boss Toto Wolff does not apologize to Lewis Hamilton.
On Sunday in Italy, the fourth F1 race of the season was run on the traditional motorway in Imola. The race was won by Red Bull Max Verstappenfor whom the weekend was perfect. The 24-year-old reigning world champion was also the fastest on Friday in time trial and on Saturday in the sprint race, which was on the program for the first time this season.
Second in the race was driven by Red Bull Sergio Perez. The third was McLaren Lando Norris. Valtteri Bottas after a technical breakdown, he drove a good sprint race on Saturday and then a great race on Sunday, being fifth.
For Ferrari, however, the home race was a huge disappointment.
Sport went through an F1 expert Jukka Mildhin with the weekend’s biggest topics, tops and flops.
Where did the race go?
The start was the biggest place in Sunday’s race. The Red Bull duo, Verstappe from the pole position and Perez from the third square got off to a good start. Instead, Ferrari still leads the World Series Charles Leclerc left the second box weakly, falling behind Perez and Norris.
– There were difficult conditions, Red Bull was best prepared for it and was able to use the tires in the right way. Right from the start, Verstappen was able to drive completely alone in a race on a wet track. That splash of water came off the track for a long time, but Verstappen was allowed to drive in the best visibility conditions, Mildh says.
– Red Bull was really strong and at the same time the worst opponent Ferrari flopped. The Red Bull car worked really well.
It had been raining in Imola along the Sundays, but the rain had stopped before the start of the race. The drivers set off on the intermediate tires. After about 20/63 laps, the track was sufficiently dry, and everyone dared to get the dry road tires to the depot.
Changing the tires did not change the setup at the top. Verstappen was allowed to widen the gap when second-place teammate Perez was able to keep Leclerc behind.
What are we talking about?
As a topic of discussion, Mildh raises the endurance of Leclerc’s nerves in an ever-accelerating championship battle.
The race turned a disaster for Ferrari in front of a home crowd. Carlos Sainz Jr. had to be suspended for the second race in a row. In Australia he drove out because of his own driving error, now in Imola he collided with McLaren Daniel Ricciardon with.
Leclerc, meanwhile, made a driving foul ten laps before the goal when fighting for second place against Perez. The 24-year-old Monaco spun, hit the wall a little and broke its front wings. Leclerc had to go to the depot and he was finally sixth in the race.
– Leclerc made a big mistake at the end. He was too greedy and crossed the cornerstone too greedily in a situation where he should have focused on a nervous game against Perez. He whipped himself out of it, for good reason, Mildh sees.
– It wasn’t a bad luck, I just made a bad mistake. That’s it. I wanted to give my second place in the fight, completely my fault, Leclerc told Viaplay after the race.
Leclerc, who finished 1st, 2nd and 1st in the previous three races, still leads the World Series by 27 points to Verstappen.
– Leclerc must develop its position against Verstappen in the competition. Don’t be too greedy. This is a long season, he still leads the World Cup series, nothing has been lost, but this may have shown a small weak point, which Verstappen will take advantage of in the future, Mildh line.
– Even when this happened in Italy, the pressure on Leclerc is quite a bit. He needs to get over this quickly now.
What about Bottas?
Bottas drove a solid weekend, although the car suffered major damage in time due to a fault in the exhaust system. Bottas was unable to attend Saturday’s rehearsals due to car repairs. In the sprint, he lost a few places in the start, but rose from tenth to seventh.
The start of Sunday’s race saw an exciting situation with Sainz and Ricciardo crashing and Bottas hitting Ricciardo behind. However, Bottas’ car remained intact. Bottas rose to fifth and fought Mercedes until the checkered flag George Russellin with four places.
– Bottas did a great job. He was definitely one of the best in the race. First of all, the start was now better than normal. There was no reason he hit Ricciardo. He was able to drive a very tough race, praises Mildh.
Bottas gave a particularly hard display of both his abilities and the pace of Alfa Romeo after the depot stop. As the cars went to change dry tires at 20 laps, Bottas missed far from Russell. Based on the TV images, the depot stop seemed to have problems replacing the right front tire.
– Bottas lost 9-10 seconds to Russell due to the team’s torment, but he closed the gap by the end of the race. It was a tremendous performance in those circumstances, Mildh glows.
The value of the performance is also increased by the fact that there were uncertainties in the car throughout the weekend. Mildh says fuel cars were replaced on all Ferrari-powered cars before the race. The fault had been found in Bottas’ car.
Bottas gave Viaplay a comment after the race, which can also be interpreted as a click in the direction of a struggling Mercedes. Bottas, who had driven Mercedes for the previous five seasons, was asked how much he now enjoys racing.
– Yes, I enjoy it a lot. Pretty big difference is in recent years. To do, Bottas replied.
Even Mildh was in the forefront of the mind that Bottas’ timing for the change of team could not have been better.
Surprise
To his surprise, Mildh raises Lando Norris to third place and McLaren in particular. In the opening race in Bahrain, McLaren’s duo were in 14th and 15th place after that, with Norris finishing seventh, fifth, third.
– Great performance from McLaren, when the first season has not been very successful. However, they drive Mercedes engines that are currently well behind Red Bull and Ferrari engines. Compared to that, the stable has developed really well.
– Norris can drive even in difficult conditions. He’s a good driver, it’s known, but McLaren is clearly heading in the right direction as well. Too bad Ricciardo hit Sainz in the beginning, his race went there.
The flop
Although Ferrari’s race was a big disappointment, the stable has been the strongest since the beginning of the season. On the flop, Mildh continues to raise Mercedes.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton started the race from boxes 11 and 14. Russell was able to raise his position sharply at the start, eventually finishing fourth with Ferrari’s failures. Hamilton was 13th.
Immediately after the checkered flag, exceptional communication was heard when the Mercedes team manager Toto Wolff apologized to Hamilton on team radio. Wolff said he was sorry that the car was unworthy and that Hamilton would not deserve to drive one.
– It’s staggering that Hamilton has to drive in 14th place. It feels like Russell, as a fresh Mercedes driver, doesn’t think too much, but enjoys a better car when compared to Williams last season. Hamilton certainly requires a lot to keep your nerves under control and to be constructive. Once he’s used to going on the crest of the wave, now he’s on the bottom.
– If Mercedes is 1.5 seconds slower on the lap than Red Bull, it’s a light year in the formulas. They still have problems with the car bounce that was observed in almost all cars in the first tests. They haven’t even been able to solve it. The stable has really failed.
Reflecting on this, Mildh understands Wolff’s apologies. So many things have gone wrong with Mercedes that it’s hard to patch, even though only 4/22 races have been run.
What next?
The fifth race of the season will run on May 8 in the United States. That’s when the F1 race will be seen for the first time in Florida at the Miami International Autodrome. The track is a temporary structure that will be erected around Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins, among others.
– Four races have now been run. It has been run in the wet, which is unlikely in Miami. Has run on different tracks. There has been a feel for cars and, above all, for tires. It seems that there is no battle between Ferrari and Red Bull in terms of engines, more perhaps with tire choices and tire use. It will definitely be interesting on the new track, Mildh anticipates.