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Cloudy. Dry. Air + 18С, track + 24 … 22С
In 2020, Formula 1 returned to Imola after a 14-year hiatus. During this time, a lot has changed, both the speed of the cars and the configuration of the track, so the results cannot be directly compared. In 2006, the race was won by Michael Schumacher, who started from pole, in a Ferrari. Then the pole time was 1: 26.890, and on Saturday Valtteri Bottas won the classification with 1: 13.809.
From Imola to Portimao, where the race took place last week, more than 2000 km. In the context of coronavirus restrictions, teams simply would not have had time to bring the machines and equipment in on time, so the stage was immediately announced as two days. On Saturday morning the only practice session of an hour and a half took place: Bottas showed the best time, then qualifying, where Valtteri was again faster, ahead of Hamilton by tenth.
Bottas and Hamilton started from the front row, Verstappen and Gasley from the second, Riccardo and Albon from the third. Daniil Kvyat reached the qualifying final for the first time this season and started from the best position this year: eighth.
Pirelli brought the three “middle” lineups to the stage: the Hard, Medium and Soft roles were C2, C3 and C4. After the cars in Portimão slid on the new surface, this time there were no complaints: the asphalt in Imola was old and provided excellent traction.
In the race, Gasly, Riccardo, Albon, Leclair, Quat, Norris, Sainz and Giovinazzi started in Soft, the rest in Medium.
Before departure, AlphaTauri played with the power plant in Pierre Gasly’s car: in the training circle, the team noticed a problem with telemetry, but the Frenchman was at the start.
.jpg "Start of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix")
At first, Bottas maintained the leadership. Verstappen beat Hamilton. Magnussen was deployed after contact with Vettel; the commissioners left the incident without consequences.
Giovinazzi went from last place to 14. Kvyat was eighth. Stroll hooked up behind Okon’s car and swerved into the pits, changing tires and nose cone.
The top ten in the second circle: Bottas – Verstappen – Hamilton – Riccardo – Gasley – Leclair – Elbon – Kvyat – Norris – Sainz.
The top three raced in a tight group, but the difference in speed was not enough to fight for the spot. Riccardo gradually fell behind.
On lap 6, Sainz edged out Norris for ninth place.
On lap 9, Gasley, under the orders of the engineer, stopped the car in the pits and retired due to a drop in coolant pressure.
On the 10th lap, Grosjean changed tires, on the 11th – Giovinazzi, on the 12th – Russell, on the 14th – Leclair, Norris and Ocon, on the 15th – Riccardo, Elbon and Kvyat, on the 18th – Sainz, on the 19th from Verstappen, at 20 Bottas.
Valtteri was back on track before Max. Hamilton took the lead, picked up the pace with some of the best laps in a row and decided to delay the pit stop.
Verstappen closed the gap with Bottas in the DRS zone, but the speed difference was not enough to attack, despite the damage to the underside of Valtteri’s car, and soon Max began to lag behind.
On lap 28, Riccardo and Leclair beat Magnussen. Pérez changed tires.
Okon stopped the car on the track due to clutch problems and withdrew from the fight. Virtual safety car mode announced. Hamilton changed the tires, maintaining the lead in the race.
On lap 29, Magnussen made a pit stop, at 35 – Latifi.
.jpg "On lap 37, Bottas grabbed the gravel at the exit of the last corner and Verstappen came close to attacking distance.")
On lap 37, Bottas caught the gravel at the exit of the last corner, Verstappen got closer to attacking distance, but Valtteri added and stayed ahead.
On lap 40, Vettel made a pit stop: when replacing the right front wheel, there was a prolonged hitch.
On lap 43, Valtteri again made a mistake, Verstappen attacked and went ahead.
On lap 48, Magnussen pitted the car and retired due to gearbox problems.
On lap 50, Raikkonen changed the tires.
Top ten on lap 50: Hamilton – Verstappen – Bottas – Pérez – Riccardo – Leclair – Elbon – Kvyat – Sainz – Norris.
.jpg "On lap 51, Verstappen withdrew from the fight, the car suddenly lost stability in a straight line, flew and got stuck in gravel.")
On lap 51, Verstappen withdrew from the fight, the car suddenly losing stability in a straight line, went flying and got stuck in the gravel.
The security car got out. The drivers pitted, changing tires.
On lap 52, Russell, who was driving 10th, crashed a car behind a safety car; He tried to warm up the tires and hit a barrier. The runway was covered in debris. I had to evacuate two cars at the same time.
The pit ride was delayed with braking, knocking down the mechanic in front, without serious consequences.
Top ten for safety car: Hamilton – Bottas – Riccardo – Leclair – Elbon – Perez – Kvyat – Sainz – Norris – Raikkonen.
Stroll and Riccardo nearly collided as Lance passed everyone in the circle and Daniel warmed up the tires.
On lap 57, a restart was announced. Hamilton retained the lead. Kvyat and Leclair were ahead of Peres. Elbon turned and rolled backward.
On lap 58, Kvyat edged out Leclair in the fight for fourth place.
On lap 60, Albon changed tires and tried to drive the best lap, but Hamilton kept him behind.
Stewards punished Grosjean with a five-second fine for repeated violations of the track boundaries.
===
Lewis Hamilton won the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix for his ninth win of the season and 93rd of his career. Valtteri Bottas finished second – Team Mercedes won the Constructors’ Cup for the seventh time in a row.
Daniel Riccardo finished third, taking the podium for the second time this season. Daniil Kvyat finished the race fourth, having achieved the best result for him of the season.
For the first time this season, both Alfa Romeo drivers have earned points.
In two weeks the fighting will continue in Turkey.
Race results
| Pilot | I send | Time | Speed | Pete |
| 1.L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1: 28,32,430 | 209,428 | 2 |
| 2.V. Bottas | Mercedes | +5,783 | 209,201 | 2 |
| 3.D. Riccardo | Renault | +14,320 | 208,865 | 1 |
| 4. D. Kvyat | AlphaTauri | +15,141 | 208,833 | 2 |
| 5. S. Leclair | Ferrari | +19,111 | 208,678 | 1 |
| 6C. Perez | Racing point | +19,652 | 208,657 | 2 |
| 7. K. Sines | Mclaren | +20,230 | 208,634 | 2 |
| 8.L. Norris | Mclaren | +21,131 | 208,599 | 2 |
| 9.K. Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | +22,224 | 208,556 | 1 |
| 10. A. Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | +26,398 | 208,393 | 1 |
| 11. N. Latifi | Williams | +27,135 | 208,364 | 1 |
| 12.S. Vettel | Ferrari | +28,453 | 208,313 | 2 |
| 13.L. Walk | Racing point | +29,163 | 208,285 | 3 |
| 14. R. Grozhan * | Haas | +32,935 | 208,138 | 2 |
| 15.A. Elbon | Red Bull | +57,284 | 207,194 | 2 |
* added five seconds to Grosjean’s result for repeated violation of track boundaries
Best circle: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1: 15.484 (lap 63)
Reasons for retirements
| Pilot | I send | Circles | The reason |
| P. Gasley | AiphaTauri | 8 | refrigeration system |
| E. Okon | Renault | 27 | clutch |
| K. Magnussen | Haas | 47 | Transmission |
| M. Verstappen | Red bull racing | fifty | shock |
| D. Russell | Williams | 51 | shock |
Championship position: Individual
Championship place: Constructors Cup
| I send | Motor | Lenses | |
| = | 1. Mercedes AMG Petronas | Mercedes | 479 |
| = | 2. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing | Sling | 226 |
 |
3. Renault DP World F1 Team | Renault | 135 |
 |
4. BWT Racing Point F1 Team | Mercedes | 134 |
|
5. McLaren F1 Team | Renault | 134 |
| = | 6. Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 103 |
| = | 7. Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | Sling | 89 |
| = | 8. Alfa Romeo Racing | Ferrari | 8 |
| = | 9. Haas F1 Team | Ferrari | 3 |
