Imola: pre-qualifying 2021

The practice and qualifying sessions have had minor timetable amendments due to not wanting to clash with the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral and losing British viewership:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.formula-1-and-fia-confirm-changes-to-imola-weekend-timetable-full-details.12vf4JGyyqsuIAXyNaMViC.html

First practice began and ended with Mazepin spins. I’m guessing his not to be classified odds will be 1.4, but we shall see. Anyway, fastest chap was Bottas, but both Hamilton and Verstappen were within six-hundredths of a second. Leclerc was a couple of tenths off the ultimate pace, with Gasly another tenth further back, with an identical time as Sainz. Alonso, Stroll, Latifi, and Ricciardo rounded out the top 10.

Verstappen had bad luck in second practice with his car breaking early (drive shaft), and he ended up 14th. Bottas was fastest again, one-hundredth of a second ahead of Hamilton. Gasly was within a tenth, and two-tenths ahead of Sainz this session. Leclerc was over half a second off his team mate, and narrowly ahead of Perez, who was followed by Tsunoda, Norris, Giovinazzi, and Stroll.

At this stage, it once again looks tantalisingly close.

In third practice Verstappen was fastest, four-tenths ahead of Norris, with Hamilton a tenth further back. Perez was next, followed by Leclerc, Gasly, Sainz, Bottas, Alonso, and Ocon.

At this stage I think a certain Dutchman might be favourite for pole. Norris and the Ferraris also look in good shape.

Verstappen is 1.67 for pole, 1.84 with Betfair. Slightly tempted by the Betfair odds. However, the drive shaft issue, potential traffic problems, and the severe penalty for making mistakes does make me wary.

Hamilton and Bottas are 3 and 6 respectively. The Finn might be value each way, third the odds top 2 (or 3.2 and 7 on Betfair).

Interestingly, there’s 26 for Leclerc and Perez, 51 for Norris. If each way were top 3 they’d be very tempting. If you have a £1 free bet or suchlike, this is the sort of thing I’d spend it on (each way), but the performance advantage of Red Bull and Mercedes should be enough to lock out the top spots.

So no tip, but things are nicely poised.

Morris Dancer

Comments

  1. marcher17 April 2021 at 22:49

    I thought Bottas migh make a challenge after Q1. Then...

    ReplyDelete

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