Emilia-Romagna GP: Sainz to strike at last
- Aaron Harper
- Apr 22, 2022
- 3 min read
Ferrari are leading the way in both championships as F1 travels to Imola for the third running of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
The Tifosi will be finding any spare patch of grass or grandstand seat to cheer on the famous red cars, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz behind at the wheel.
The home crowd will also be expectant of victory, given the Scuderia’s supreme start to the season, winning two of the first three races with Leclerc.
The Monagasque driver heads the driver’s standings and is favourite with the bookies ahead of the weekend’s first on track action.
The 24-year-old will have stiff competition, in the form of Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, who has signed a new two-year extension to his Ferrari deal and Max Verstappen, who will be aiming to bounce back from a DNF in Australia.
There will be added jeopardy with the Imola circuit hosting the first sprint event of 2022.
Qualifying, possibly in the wet, will be held on Friday evening, with the 100km sprint race on Saturday afternoon.
Qualifying sets the starting order for the sprint, with the result of the sprint race setting up the grid for Sunday’s showpiece, the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
There is also potential for thunderstorms on Sunday too.
Considering the format of the weekend being different, many teams will opt to hold back on bringing upgrade packages to their cars, as there is only one practice session ahead of qualifying on Friday.
There is FP2 on Saturday morning, but the car’s will be in Parc-Ferme by this point, so evaluating new parts will be impossible.
Rain on Friday could make it a total lottery, but here are my predictions ahead of the weekend.
Pole Winner – Carlos Sainz
Sainz has been there or thereabouts on quali pace with Leclerc at each of the three rounds so far.
Where he has fallen short, is on the final run.
He had provisional pole after the first Q3 laps in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, while an untimely red flag wrecked his Q3 in Melbourne.
I’ve actually tipped Verstappen for pole at all three races so far, and he has scored no poles yet.
Either I’ve cursed him or underestimated the Ferrari’s pace.
Race Winner – Carlos Sainz
If Sainz can keep himself at the front, I have no doubt that he has the craft to keep himself there.
He has the new deal in his pocket and the confidence of the team. He has not fallen into number two territory just yet and a victory would do a lot to pushing talk of that away for the time being.
Race Podium – Sainz, Leclerc, Alonso
Ferrari look incredibly strong at the moment, with their car functioning beautifully
at each of the three circuits visited so far.
I think Leclerc will follow his team mate home, probably not risking his or the team’s early strength in the championships.
I can also see a strong showing from Alonso, who could have been on the front two rows in Australia, before the £1 part in the hydraulics system dramatically altered the course of his weekend.
Bold Prediction - Another double DNF for Red Bull
Red Bull have a 50% finishing record with “their own” power units. Max Verstappen needs a good result this weekend but he has a difficult recent record in Italy, finishing just one of the last five races in Italy.
That one finish was victory at Imola last year.
The reliability concerns the car has could be compounded by the kerbs and the stresses placed on the car around the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari layout.
It is highly unlikely to happen, but a second double DNF in four races for Red Bull is my bold prediction.
Comentários