Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Prediction: Legendary Imola is always a challenge

We had to wait until the middle of the fifth month for the first European race in this Formula 1 World Championship season. The first of this year's two races in Italy, the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, takes place from May 17 to 19 at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari track in Imola. Red Bull is the number 1 favorite again, but the challengers are arriving with upgraded cars. The Formula 1 season started in the Middle East, then went to Australia and the Far East, before stopping by Florida two weeks ago. Finally, it's time for the first European race in 2024, which will be hosted by the legendary Imola, the home of Ferrari.

On the track of Enzo and Dino Ferrari, a Formula 1 race was held for the first time in 1980, then for the Italian Grand Prix. Then, from 1981 to 2006, the San Marino Grand Prix was held at that location, and after a long hiatus, Imola again hosted Formula 1 thanks to the chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The official name of this season's race is a little bit weird: Formula 1 MSC Cruises Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell'Emilia-Romagna 2024. From the past of F1 racing in Imola, we can single out that the owner of the record lap is Lewis Hamilton (1:15.484 in Mercedes 2020), the owner of the most pole positions is the never-regretted Ayrton Senna (8), and now Verstappen, while the most victories on that track were celebrated by Michael Schumacher ( 7). 

Current three-time world champion Max Verstappen won his eight consecutive pole position with the fastest qualifying time for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. The Dutchman left behind the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri (+0.074s) and Lando Norris (+0.091s). Ferrari arrived at Imola with huge upgrades to the car, but the Italians were not as quick as they had hoped. Charles Leclerc (+0.224s) finished fourth, and his teammate Carlos Sainz (+0.487s). George Russell (+0.488s) finished sixth, while Yuki Tsunoda (+0.719s), who was brilliant in the first two qualifying rounds, finished seventh ahead of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (+0.758s). The second RB in the hands of Daniel Ricciardo (+0.928s) was placed in ninth place, and Nico Hulkenberg closed the circle of the fastest ten (+1.234s).

Oscar Piastri did a great qualifying. He set the second time of the session less than a tenth of a second behind Max Verstappen. Piastri left behind teammate Lando Norris, who won the Miami Grand Prix. The young Australian, however, will start the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix from fifth instead of second position. He was penalized three places down the order by the FIA after causing trouble for Kevin Magnussen during a fast lap in Q1.

The season so far has been marked by the dominance of Red Bull and Max Verstappen, with four victories and a maximum of six best starting positions. But it turned out that others still have a chance to win races from time to time, as evidenced by the victories of Carlos Sainz with Ferrari in Australia and Lando Norris in McLaren at the last race in Miami. The Briton then wildly celebrated his first victory in his F1 career. For this race, Ferrari made huge changes and they will be most visible during the race. I think that Carlos Sainz can find his way up to the place on the podium in Ferrari’s home Imola.

OUR PREDICTION: Carlos Sainz in the top 3