After a return to a historic circuit which saw history made, here are the main pointers I have taken from this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Mercedes take a record seventh in a row
Mercedes have now entered unchartered territory, and have clinched a record seventh consecutive constructors title, an unprecedented level of success. As the dominant force, all the speculation ahead of a new season is about whether a Ferrari or a Red Bull can close the gap to Mercedes, and in a way forgetting they are pushing to improve too, and then they turn up in winter testing with something extraordinary. And it has not just been in the technical department they have been formidable. Its the operational department. In 2017-2018, when the Ferrari was at least a match for the Mercedes. Yet Mercedes outdid them in the strategical race and the development race and simply coped with the pressure more. And they aren’t only in front due to their resources. Many teams who have as much money and resources as Mercedes, including Ferrari, just are not at their level at the moment.
AlphaTauri show they mean business
In recent weeks, Red Bull have been stating that AlphaTauri are more than just a junior team, that they legitimately mean business as a competitive team. They have stated that this is the reason Pierre Gasly has been retained. They are showing this on the track as well, the car is constantly improving and making steps forward, and that was shown this weekend, where both cars made the top 10, and Pierre Gasly qualified in an excellent fourth on the grid. Sadly Pierre Gasly was unable to make that count due to a water leak forcing him to retire from fifth early on, but Daniil Kvyat took full advantage of being on fresher tyres at the end and finished in fourth, its widely believed that Pierre Gasly could’ve been on the podium. AlphaTauri are a team on the rise.
F1 stars rally around George Russell after heart wrenching error
When the cameras cut to the white and blue Williams of George Russell in the barriers, hearts around the world sunk as he looked on course to score his maiden point, and had thrown it away with a simple mistake under the SC. When cameras cut to him sitting with his helmet still on trackside reflecting on his error and asking the marshals to give him space, the whole world felt for him and after the race, many stars rallied around him including Romain Grosjean who made a similar mistake in Baku a couple of years ago, and champion elect Lewis Hamilton, who has experienced this sort of pain at the start of his career on occasions and told him its OK to make mistakes. Many drivers who would go onto become world champions, including Lewis, have made similarly simple errors under the safety car before, and it looks like George is going to use this as a character building exercise.
Ricciardo does it again
I said after the Eifel Grand Prix that it wouldn’t be his only podium in 2020, and I was proven right just two races later, where he once again got himself and Renault onto the podium. Once again this podium came as with a little bit of good fortune with a safety car coming, then Racing Point making the mistake of bringing Sergio Perez, who looked set for third, into the pits. He did have to fight for it, as he had a charging Daniil Kvyat behind him in the final few laps looking to steal that final podium position off him, but he stood his ground and finished in third. This time he remembered to do a shoey on the podium and even managed to get Lewis Hamilton to do a shoey as well.
Hamilton on the brink of a seventh
Lewis Hamilton now stands on the brink of a seventh world title, and at Istanbul he has his first shot at securing it, and its not a case of if Hamilton does this he is champion, it is a case of if Valtteri Bottas DOESN’T do this then he is champion, he needs to outscore him by 8 points to remain in contention going into Bahrain. A win would secure it no matter what happens and a second place would secure it if Bottas does not set fastest lap.
The championship picture
So it looks like the drivers is all but secured but the race for second could get interesting as it is not impossible that Max Verstappen could get on top of Bottas. In the battle for best of the rest, Daniel Ricciardo is now pulling away. In the constructors standings, Mercedes have the championship secured for a seventh time in a row. Red Bull look set for second, however it is the fight for third between Renault, McLaren and Racing Point keeping everyone interested, a battle that could change on a race by race basis.
Here are the current title standings.
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