2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 2 of 22 [lower-alpha 1] in the 2021 Formula One World Championship
| |||||
![]() Layout of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari | |||||
Race details | |||||
Date | 18 April 2021 | ||||
Official name | Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell'Emilia Romagna 2021 | ||||
Location | Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy | ||||
Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
Course length | 4.909 km (3.050 miles) | ||||
Distance | 63 laps, 309.049 km (192.034 miles) | ||||
Weather | Wet at start, drying during race, 9 °C (48 °F) | ||||
Attendance | 0 [lower-alpha 2] | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | Mercedes | ||||
Time | 1:14.411 | ||||
Fastest lap | |||||
Driver | ![]() | Mercedes | |||
Time | 1:16.702 on lap 60 | ||||
Podium | |||||
First | Red Bull Racing-Honda | ||||
Second | Mercedes | ||||
Third | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders |
The 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell'Emilia Romagna 2021) was a Formula One motor race which took place on 18 April 2021 at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. The race, held in wet conditions, was the second round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship, and the second Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton, who led the driver's championship, started from pole position, but he was overtaken at the first corner by Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, who led the rest of the race and claimed victory. Hamilton managed to recover from a minor crash to take second place for the Mercedes team, just ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris. The race was temporarily stopped halfway through after a high-speed crash involving Valtteri Bottas and George Russell.
The race was the second round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship, and the second running of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. It was the twenty-ninth time Imola hosted a Formula One race, having previously hosted 26 editions of the San Marino Grand Prix and the 1980 Italian Grand Prix. [2] Unlike the 2020 edition (which took place over two days), [3] this event utilised the traditional three-day format. [2]
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. [4] Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3 and C4 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium and soft respectively) for teams to use at the event. [5]
In March 2021, organisers announced that the race would be held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. [6] The DRS zone located on the main straight would be longer than the previous edition of the race, to aid overtaking. The detection point was moved from the exit of the second Rivazza (turn 18) to the entrance of the said turn (turn 17). [7]
Lewis Hamilton entered the weekend as both the defending race winner and the championship leader, with a seven-point lead over Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing. Verstappen was considered the favourite to win the race, ahead of Hamilton and his teammate, Valtteri Bottas. [8] Some teams had new parts on their cars for the first European race of the year, with Ferrari and Williams using their versions of the "z-shaped" floors Mercedes and Red Bull had utilised in Bahrain. [9]
There were three practice sessions, all an hour in length. The first practice session started at 11:00 local time (UTC+02:00) on Friday 16 April. The second practice session started at 14:30 local time on the same afternoon and the final practice session started at 11:00 on Saturday. [10]
The first practice session ended with Bottas fastest ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. The session was red flagged twice, the first time following a collision between Red Bull's Sergio Pérez and Alpine's Esteban Ocon at turns five and six, and a second time when Nikita Mazepin crashed at turn 18. [11] The second practice session ended with Bottas fastest ahead of Hamilton and Pierre Gasly, driving for AlphaTauri. The session was interrupted twice, the first time when Verstappen stopped on track, resulting in the virtual safety car being deployed, and a second time when Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari, at the end of the session, bringing out the red flag. [12] The final practice session ended with Verstappen fastest ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris and Hamilton. [13]
The time of the qualifying session was moved to avoid a clash with the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who died on 9 April; as a result the start times for the practice sessions were also adjusted. [14] Before the start of qualifying, at 14:00 local time (UTC+02:00), there was a minute's silence to mark the Prince's death. [10] [14] The first part of qualifying (Q1) was red-flagged after Yuki Tsunoda spun and crashed heavily at the Variente Alta chicane. [15] As only five drivers had set a time before Tsunoda's crash, the track was noticeably congested near the end of the session; In addition to Tsunoda, the eliminated drivers included both the Alfa Romeos of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, and both the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. [16] Giovinazzi later issued a public criticism of Mazepin, who had overtaken the Italian driver on his last lap, forcing its abandonment. [17] The second part of qualifying (Q2) was less eventful, but saw the surprise elimination of the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr., who only managed eleventh place. Behind the Spaniard was George Russell, Sebastian Vettel, Russell's teammate Nicholas Latifi, and Fernando Alonso. [16] Sergio Pérez topped the session, ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris, who had performed impressively all weekend. [18]
Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the 99th time in the final part of qualifying, just ahead of the Red Bull of Pérez, who confessed that he had lost time at the Rivazza double left-hander. [19] Norris would have started on the front row for the first time in his career, had he not breached track limits at the fast Piratella curve, leading to his time being deleted; he started seventh. [15] Pérez's teammate Max Verstappen thus qualified third, less than a tenth of a second behind Hamilton, while Charles Leclerc managed to take fourth place in the session. [20] Behind them, Pierre Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth and sixth, while Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas experienced a torrid session; having been first in Q1, he only managed eighth in Q3. [16] The top ten was rounded out by Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll, the latter of whom did not set a lap during the session. [15]
Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Final grid | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | |||||
1 | 44 | ![]() | Mercedes | 1:14.823 | 1:14.817 | 1:14.411 | 1 |
2 | 11 | ![]() | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:15.395 | 1:14.716 | 1:14.446 | 2 |
3 | 33 | ![]() | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:15.109 | 1:14.884 | 1:14.498 | 3 |
4 | 16 | ![]() | Ferrari | 1:15.413 | 1:14.808 | 1:14.740 | 4 |
5 | 10 | ![]() | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:15.548 | 1:14.927 | 1:14.790 | 5 |
6 | 3 | ![]() | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:15.669 | 1:15.033 | 1:14.826 | 6 |
7 | 4 | ![]() | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:15.009 | 1:14.718 | 1:14.875 | 7 |
8 | 77 | ![]() | Mercedes | 1:14.672 | 1:14.905 | 1:14.898 | 8 |
9 | 31 | ![]() | Alpine-Renault | 1:15.385 | 1:15.117 | 1:15.210 | 9 |
10 | 18 | ![]() | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1:15.522 | 1:15.138 | No time | 10 |
11 | 55 | ![]() | Ferrari | 1:15.406 | 1:15.199 | N/A | 11 |
12 | 63 | ![]() | Williams-Mercedes | 1:15.826 | 1:15.261 | N/A | 12 |
13 | 5 | ![]() | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1:15.459 | 1:15.394 | N/A | 13 |
14 | 6 | ![]() | Williams-Mercedes | 1:15.653 | 1:15.593 1 | N/A | 14 |
15 | 14 | ![]() | Alpine-Renault | 1:15.832 | 1:15.593 1 | N/A | 15 |
16 | 7 | ![]() | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:15.974 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
17 | 99 | ![]() | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:16.122 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
18 | 47 | ![]() | Haas-Ferrari | 1:16.279 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
19 | 9 | ![]() | Haas-Ferrari | 1:16.797 | N/A | N/A | 19 |
107% time: 1:19.899 | |||||||
— | 22 | ![]() | AlphaTauri-Honda | No time | N/A | N/A | 20 2 |
Source: [22] [23] | |||||||
The race started at 15:00 local time (UTC+02:00) and was held over 63 laps. [10] Heavy rain had fallen before the race, and on his way to the grid, Fernando Alonso lost control and hit the wall at Tosa; he managed to drive to the grid, where the Alpine mechanics were able to fix the damage. [25] [26] Sebastian Vettel had to start from the pitlane after his brakes overheated before the race, and was given a ten-second penalty when the team failed to fit his car's tyres before the five-minute deadline. [27] Charles Leclerc was able to recover from a spin on the formation lap and start the race. [28]
At the race start, Max Verstappen bolted off the line and managed to overtake both his teammate Sergio Pérez and polesitter Lewis Hamilton to take the lead; Hamilton was forced to drive over the kerbs on the outside of the Tamburello curve, which damaged his front wing. [25] On the run up to the Variante Alta chicane, Nikita Mazepin was unable to avoid the Williams of Nicholas Latifi, who had run wide at the Acque Minerali right-hander; Mazepin's Haas emerged undamaged, but Latifi was spun into the wall, ending his race. [29] During the resulting safety car, Mick Schumacher spun near the pit exit and lost his front wing, while Perez, after running into the gravel, illegally regained his position, an action which gained him a ten-second stop-go penalty. [30] [31] With the rain gradually ceasing, Vettel was the first driver to change onto slick tyres, which he did on lap 22. Verstappen, leading by just over a second from Hamilton, pitted on lap 27 for slicks; Hamilton, seeking to utilise the overcut, looked to be neck-and-neck with his rival when he came into the pits the next lap, but a comparatively slow pitstop dropped him back behind Verstappen.
On the thirty-first lap, Hamilton slid into the gravel at Tosa, while trying to lap the Williams of George Russell. [32] He managed to stop his car clear of the barriers, but drove directly into the barriers while trying to rejoin the race, damaging his front wing. [33] Soon after, Russell was involved in a 320 kilometres per hour (200 mph) crash with the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, at the entrance to the fast Tamburello chicane; the race was red-flagged because debris had scattered across the track. [34] Both drivers were noticeably enraged following the incident - Russell marched over to the remains of Bottas' Mercedes to confront him, while Bottas replied to a light slap on his crash helmet from Russell by giving him the middle finger. [32] Because the stewards classified the incident as a racing incident, neither driver was penalised. [35]
Just before the restart, Verstappen almost spun at Rivazza, but managed to maintain control; he kept the lead and pulled away for the rest of the race. [30] Behind him, Lando Norris overtook the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for second place, while Perez and Yuki Tsunoda spun at Villeneuve and Tamburello respectively, dropping them down to 14th and 15th. [28] Hamilton, starting ninth after the red flag, worked his way upwards through the field, and eventually managed to pass the stubborn McLaren of Norris for second place on lap 60. [32] Norris achieved his second podium with third-place, following an equal placing at Austria the previous year. Hamilton claimed the bonus point for fastest lap, allowing him to maintain the lead in the championship over Verstappen. [36]
Toto Wolff expressed displeasure with both Bottas and Russell following the race, but remarked he had expected Russell, a member of the Mercedes Junior Team, to be more circumspect while overtaking a Mercedes. [37] Bottas had sustained a bruised knee in the 30 g (290 m/s2 ; 970 ft/s2 ) crash, and Wolff was also irritated that his car had been almost completely wrecked. [38] The following day Russell expressed his desire to "clear the air" with Bottas following the confrontation, and later apologised to Bottas and to the Williams team. [39] [40] Lance Stroll was later given a five-second time penalty for cutting the Tamburello chicane, dropping him from seventh to eighth-position. [41] Kimi Räikkönen was given a thirty-second penalty after he breached the restart rules, dropping him from ninth place to thirteenth. [42] Räikkönen's team appealed the penalty, it was upheld following a review. [43]
|
|
Valtteri Viktor Bottas is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, having previously driven for Mercedes from 2017 to 2021 and Williams from 2013 to 2016. Bottas has scored 10 race wins and 67 podiums. He contributed to five Constructors' Championship wins for Mercedes, and has been Drivers' Championship runner-up twice, in 2019 and 2020.
The 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which was the 72nd running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over twenty-two Grands Prix, and held around the world. Drivers and teams competed for the titles of Formula One World Champion Driver and Formula One World Champion Constructor, respectively.
The 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 6 June 2021 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. The race, the sixth round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship, marked the fourth running of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and the fifth time the country had hosted a Grand Prix, having also held the 2016 European Grand Prix.
The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 29 August 2021 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was the twelfth round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. The race was also the 77th overall running of the Belgian Grand Prix, the 66th time the event was run as part of the Formula One World Championship, and the 54th World Championship Belgian Grand Prix held at the Spa circuit. The race was won by Max Verstappen, ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
The 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 1 August 2021 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary. It was the eleventh round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. The race was won by Esteban Ocon for Alpine-Renault. The win was Ocon's first in Formula One, the first win for the Enstone-based team since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, and the first win for a Renault-badged engine since the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix, with Hamilton and Carlos Sainz Jr. completing the podium after Sebastian Vettel was disqualified from second. Pierre Gasly earned the fastest lap, while Williams scored their first double points finish since the 2018 Italian Grand Prix and their first points of any kind since the 2019 German Grand Prix.
The 2021 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 12 September 2021 at Autodromo Nazionale Monza. It was the 14th round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship and the second Grand Prix in Italy in the season, after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on 18 April. The 53 lap race was won by McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo, who capitalised on a good front-row start and an accident between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to take the race lead. Ricciardo was joined by Lando Norris in second with Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas in third. It was Ricciardo's first victory since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, and so far remains his latest race victory. In addition, the race was McLaren's first Grand Prix victory since Jenson Button's victory at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix and the last until a victory for Norris at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix. This was also McLaren's first 1-2 finish since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix, and also McLaren's first win at Monza since the 2012 Italian Grand Prix. As of 2023, this is the final Grand Prix appearance for Robert Kubica.
The 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 7 November 2021 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. The race was the 18th round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship and marked the 21st edition of the Mexican Grand Prix, which was run under the name Mexico City Grand Prix for the first time, acknowledging the sponsorship support of the government of Mexico City.
The 2021 Russian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 26 September 2021 at the Sochi Autodrom. It was the 15th round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. It was the tenth running of the Russian Grand Prix, and the eighth and final held in Sochi.
The 2021 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on October 25, 2021, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, United States. The race was the 17th round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship and the 50th running of the United States Grand Prix, the 42nd time the race was run as a World Championship event since the inaugural 1950 season, and the ninth time a World Championship round was held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is a Formula One motor racing event held at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, often referred to as "Imola" after the town where it is located. The event takes the name "Emilia-Romagna" from the Italian region where the circuit is located. The venue has previously hosted the Italian Grand Prix in 1980, and the San Marino Grand Prix from 1981 to 2006.
The 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race which took place on 1 November 2020 at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. It was the 28th Formula One race held at the Imola circuit, the first since 2006 and the first-ever running of a race there under the name of Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The race was the 13th round of the 2020 Formula One World Championship.
The 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 December 2020 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The race was the seventeenth and final race of the 2020 Formula One World Championship. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the race and led every lap from pole position, followed by Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton who completed the podium. Red Bull Racing got their first victory at Yas Marina in seven years. McLaren secured third place in the Constructors' Championship which saw them score their highest finish in the Constructors' Championship since 2012. This also meant that for the first time since 2015, a team other than Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull finished in the top three in the Constructors' Championship.
The 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 5 December 2021 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, in Saudi Arabia. The inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, it was the 21st round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship.
The 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix was a Formula One race which was held on 28 March 2021 at the Bahrain International Circuit, a motor racing circuit in the west of Bahrain. It served as the season opener of the 2021 Formula One World Championship, and was the seventeenth running of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race that took place on 2 May 2021 at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimão, Portugal. The 66-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton from second. Max Verstappen took second place for Red Bull Racing, with Mercedes's Valtteri Bottas finishing third after starting on pole and rounding out the podium places. This was also the last Portuguese Grand Prix, as the race had not been contracted for the 2022 season and beyond.
The 2022 Miami Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race that was held on May 8, 2022, at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Florida. It was the first edition of the Miami Grand Prix and the fifth round of the 2022 Formula One World Championship.
The 2021 Styrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race that took place on 27 June 2021 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria as the eighth round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. It is the second and final Styrian Grand Prix, and the thirty-fourth Grand Prix held at the venue. The event was added to the schedule after other races were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, forming the second leg of a series of three races on back-to-back weekends. The race was won from pole position by Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen, who led every lap of the race. Lewis Hamilton, driving for the Mercedes team, finished second and set the fastest lap, with his teammate Valtteri Bottas finishing third.
The 2021 Turkish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 10 October 2021 at Istanbul Park in Tuzla, Istanbul. It was the sixteenth of twenty-two rounds of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. This was also the last Turkish Grand Prix, as the race had not been contracted for the 2022 season and beyond.
The 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 24 April 2022 at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. It was the first Grand Prix weekend of the 2022 season to utilize the Formula One sprint racing format.
The 2023 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race that was held on 28 May 2023, at the Circuit de Monaco in the Principality of Monaco. It was the sixth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship.