Emilia Romagna Grand Prix preview

This weekend, F1 returns to the track, and this time, it’s the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which takes place at the Autodomo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola. It is one of the two races that will be held in Italy this year. The last time the race was held was in 2022, as although it was scheduled for 2023, the race had to be cancelled due to floods. 

This will be the seventh race of the season, and so far, the season has been what it was hyped up to be. Max Verstappen still sits at the top of the driver leaderboard, even though he did not win the last race in Miami. With McLaren’s win at the Miami GP, the team will be seeking to replicate their success, aiming for a podium finish at least.

Verstappen’s drop at the Miami GP could be a sign that Red Bull’s internal issues may be bleeding out to the circuit, something the Dutch had hoped to avoid earlier this season. Still, with four wins out of the six races we have had already, Red Bull remains the team to beat. 

Heading into Imola, we can expect some teams to introduce upgrades to better their odds. Mercedes has already said they would bring some tweaks to their car to improve performance, especially in the floor and front suspension area.

The team has already introduced a few upgrades in Miami, one half of which was revealed by trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin, while the other half is what will be brought to Imola. He also said that the upgrades in Miami worked as hoped, but results were not as obvious since other teams were working as hard to improve theirs. 

Ferrari has also dropped hints about intended upgrades ahead of Imola, although, according to team principal, Fred Vasseur, “it’s never a mega-upgrade.” This means that while the team would be making a few changes, they do not expect anything drastic mid-season. He also mentioned that they were not just thinking about upgrades alone but were also involved with improving their drivers as well as other aspects of the team. 

The Emilia Romagna GP will be held this weekend on Sunday, May 19.