The 12th Formula 1 race of the 2020 season took place on the 1st of November at The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari-Imola, Italy, and it surely proved to be one of the most entertaining races of the season. The third race to be held in Italy this year, it did not disappoint with multiple incidents leading to a very difficult race for some, just like the previous 2 races in the country. The track is the latest addition to this seasons’ list of races, the last race to happen at Imola being in 2006, with Michael Schumacher winning the race for a record 7th time. This was the only race of the season to have only a single practice session ahead of qualifying. The Race ended with a Mercedes 1-2, while also breaking the record for the most consecutive constructors’ championship(7), beating the record previously held by Ferrari(6).
While Valterri Bottas qualified ahead of Lewis Hamilton, giving him his 15th pole in his career, it was Pierre Gasly who caught everyone’s eye, finishing P3 in Q2 and eventually P4 in Q3, equaling his best ever starting position on the grid. Max Verstappen, who suffered a spark plug issue earlier in Q2, had it miraculously changed in time by the ever-fast mechanics in order to get his car back onto the track, and finished at P3 at the end of Q3. Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon finished P5 and P6 respectively, giving the audience a very exciting front 3 rows.
The race conditions were stunning, with the brilliant blue skies overhead and no sign of rain at all. While the top 3 started with the medium tyres, the rest of the grid opted for the softs, looking at a single stop strategy mostly. Max had a brilliant start, getting ahead of Hamilton on turn 2, while Hamilton was handling the pressure from Ricciardo and Gasly behind him. Bottas was well ahead of Verstappen, while Ricciardo cemented his place at P4 ahead of Gasly. A spin from Kevin Magnussen due to slight contact with Sebastian Vettel on turn 7 on the very first lap saw him drop to last place. Stroll also had to pit in the first lap after suffering wing damage due to a scrape with Estaban Ocon. The winner of all hearts on the first lap however, was Antonio Giovinazzi, making up 6 places from last on the grid to race at P14.
On lap 8, heartbreak struck for multiple fans as AlphaTauri had to retire Gasly’s car after a mechanical issue. The Italian was looking forward to another impressive performance after his last ride at Portimao, especially given his brilliant qualifying performance here, but was very unlucky with the entire situation. The first set of pitstops happened on lap 11, with Grosjean pitting to switch to a set of hards, followed closely by Antonio Giovinnazi. On lap 15, Ricciardo, Albon, Kvyat and Leclerc pitted for hards, thus making the midfield very congested as they all looked to make an impression on the race. Verstappen pitted on lap 19, while Bottas pitted on lap 20, while Hamilton took first place and charged from there on. While most of the drivers had pitted, Perez took the long stint, gaining positions and pitted on lap 28 from P4, only to join in at P7 ahead of Ricciardo, making up a significant 4 places , with 4 of the drivers ahead having not pitted at all, effectively giving him a 4th position(Hamilton being too far out of his reach), a gain of 7 places.
A virtual safety car on lap 30 due to Estaban Ocon’s retirement(Gearbox issue) gave Hamilton the motivation he needed to pit, gaining almost 10 seconds to that of a pit stop under normal conditions. Bottas, who incurred a slight floor damage due to debris on the track on lap 2, was struggling to defend against Verstappen. Vettel, who was also going on the long stint, pitted from P4, aiming to make up places. However, a painfully long pit stop due to his front tyre getting stuck meant that he had to stop of 13.1 seconds, and emerged at P14, back to where he started.
Eventually, on lap 43, Verstappen closed the gap on Bottas, as the Finn run wide at Rivazza. The presence of DRS helped Max, as he overtook Bottas down the main straight, and was comfortably in front of him by the end of the lap. On lap 49, Kimi Raikonnen finally pitted, doing the longest stint at the track, and came out fighting for P11, just behind Russel. Hamilton also set the fastest lap, while the race saw its 3rd retirement of the day with Kevin Magnussen retiring due to a headache. On lap 50 is where the drama started, with Verstappen out of the race as his rear right tyre was punctured. The German was on the course of a podium, running P2. His DNF meant that Perez, who went for the long stint ended up at P3, from P11 on the grid! The safety car was called out, with Bottas, Hamilton and Perez pitting too. However, the strategy from Racing Point backfired, as the pit stop brought Perez back into 7th place from a podium, swapping to softs, just like Bottas and Hamilton. Perez stop put Ricciardo on 3rd, and in course for his 2nd podium this season.
On lap 53, George Russel, who was running 10th, and in course for his 1st ever points finish in F1, crashed out near Acque Minerale right behind the safety car, losing it on the cold tyres. This meant that the safety car would be out for longer, while the marshals took Russel’s car out of the track. Russel’s crash proved beneficial to Raikonnen, who was now looking to finish in the points. While the safety car ended on lap 58, Hamilton got away quickly, while Daniel Kvyat made up places and overtook Leclerc and Albon to go to P4, challenging Ricciardo for the last place on the podium. Albon however, on older tyres spun off after also being overtaken by Perez, and joined the race back in the last position. On lap 60, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap, pulling well ahead Bottas, and cementing his position, earning a 93rd career win, while Bottas came in second. The final few laps tested the temperament of Ricciardo, as he held back Kvyat as much as possible to take a podium position. The team that performed exceptional out on the track though, was Alfa Romeo, with Kimi finishing P9 and Giovinazzi finishing P10, both in the points. Mercedes, who ended up with a record consecutive constructors’ championship, saw both their drivers go side by side throughout the track.
Final Race Results-
Mercedes are undoubtedly showing why they are one of the most dominant teams in the sport, and have been proving themselves in and out of every race weekend.
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