Imola: post-race analysis 2022
I had a hard time picking what to pick, and in the end Ricciardo and Bottas had drastically different races. Happily, my bet was green.
The track was wet at the start, with no rain and
intermediate tyres the order of the day.
Off the line it was all change, with Verstappen starting well and Leclerc losing out to not only Perez but Norris as well. Just behind, Sainz and Ricciardo tangled (racing incident, definitely not the Spaniard’s fault at all, small Ricciardo error) which put the Ferrari driver out and shoved the Aussie to the back of the grid.
Bottas had to get out of it, which let past Russell (who had
already had a fantastic start). Cue the safety car.
After this there was much running on the inters as teams feared and suspected more rain was coming, and this meant it was some way before the first (and, for many, only) pit stops. Being at the back, Ricciardo swapped onto mediums first and found himself flying, prompting the whole field to do likewise. Perez came in a lap before Leclerc which enabled the Monegasque to get ahead but the Mexican’s tyres were toasty warm and on-track the Red Bull soared past the Ferrari.
Bottas had closed up to within a second of Russell but suffered
a slow 8s stop, luckily retaining his place but with Vettel close behind.
For Verstappen at the front, his main problem was deciding which radio channel to listen to as he cruised to victory.
Leclerc was never able to really challenge Perez, and Red Bull were looking good for a 1-2. The top three were driving away from Norris in an impressive but anonymous 4th, and Russell had an 11s gap or so on Bottas. However, over the laps the Finn pulled away from Vettel and got ever closer…
Further down the field Alonso had been forced to box and retire. He’d taken a knock when Schumacher had spun during the Sainz-Ricciardo collision, and the damage had become terminal when half his sidepod went walkies on the straight. Not a great day for Spanish F1 fans, alas.
Hamilton, in contrast to his team mate, was languishing well out of the points and seemed to spend the whole race unable to pass Gasly despite being only a couple of tenths behind (NB Albon did very well to keep Gasly, who was just as close behind him for this period).
Late on, Ferrari swapped tyres for softs on Leclerc. Then Perez and Verstappen did likewise. Perez again emerged behind Leclerc but was able to reclaim the place, and in pursuit the Ferrari spun. He lost much time, pitted again, and threw away a 3rd for what ended up being 6th, retaining a diminished lead in the title race. This promoted Norris to the podium.
Bottas, meanwhile, had managed to get within a second of
Russell and was clearly faster, but the younger Briton in a Mercedes drove
defensively well and was able to hang onto 4th. Great result for
him, and 5th for Bottas certainly isn’t a bad result.
Behind Leclerc was Tsunoda, who came 7th to his team mate’s 12th and had his best race in many a weekend. Vettel did well to get his Aston Martin into 8th, partly because he was one of the first to switch to slicks, earning himself some valuable strategic seconds.
Magnussen snagged a couple more points for 9th
(would’ve been interesting had the race been wetter to see if the Dane could’ve
finished higher). And Stroll in 10th made it a double points finish
for Aston Martin, which is good for a team that seemed very down and out
recently (mind you, much the same could be said of McLaren).
Losing out on a chunk of points to Verstappen is pretty bad for Leclerc, who made practically his first error of the season. He is, however, still more than a race win ahead. At the moment it’s super close for best of the rest but I fully expect Verstappen to pull clear of the others and be the sole real challenger to Leclerc. Sainz could do with a slice of good luck to try and join that party but it seems fortune and circumstance may compel Ferrari into a de facto backing of Leclerc over Sainz.
Pleased, and perhaps fortunate, my bet came off, as I’d thought the race would be dry. The next race is in Miami, in a fortnight, with qualifying at 9pm and the race starting at 8.30pm.
Morris Dancer
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