AVERAGE QUALI GAP

1) McL +0.02%;
2) RBR +0.23%;
3) Merc +0.24% (As quick as RBR);
4) Ferrari +0.50% (Big gap);
5) Williams +0.79%;
6) RBs +0.91%;
7) Alpine +1.00%;
8) Aston +1.43%;
9) Haas +1.46%;
10) Aston +1.61%.

[Each team's best lap considered]

Only Mercedes and Haas have shown a consistent, positive performance trend.

🗒IMOLA PREVIEW

Debut for the softest compound (C6): highest grip, highest wear!

One-stopper (Medium-Hard) is likely (low abrasion, hard to overtake) despite one-step softer compounds vs '24.

The tall kerbs can cause punctures or suspension damage.

NOR and VER had the same pace in 2024; LEC was close!

My prediction:
1) 🟠 McLaren
2 )🔵 RBR (VER)
3) ⚫️ Mercedes (or 🔴 Ferrari if updates work)

What's YOURS? 👀


📸 @pirellisport

Emilia-Romagna GP - Rear Wings

🟠 McLaren and 🔴 Ferrari have a different rear wing design philosophy: they use a spoon-shaped lower plane, which reduces aero load when the wing is least efficient (close to the endplates).

🔵 RBR's design is opposite: medium load across all the lower plane.

⚫️ Mercedes is a middle ground.

Compared to Miami, McLaren has increased their wing load: expect them to regain their clear downforce edge again, but their top speed should start to suffer too.

[In Miami, their downforce wasn't miles in front of others; in fact, they got no poles. Instead, they had a massive race pace advantage, due to much better tyre management, and possibly due to the discussed tyre temperature management through phase-changing materials.]

📸 @AlbertFabrega

Red Bull's sidepod inlet update is substantial, and makes them yet another top team (after 🔴Ferrari and 🟠McLaren) to have a sidepod wing acting as overbite.

The aim should be drag reduction [@AeroTechVH], and RBR's drag was already very low!

[Photos by @RosarioGiuliana]

Ferrari's and McLaren's sidepod wings, as a reference.

[Photo by http://Crash.net]

Emilia-Romagna GP - Practice 2 Analyses

1) GAP TO IDEAL LAP:

💥If you thought that McLaren's 1-2 FP2 finish indicated dominance, then hear this: their ideal lap (the combination of the team's best 3 sectors) was OVER 6 tenths clear of anyone else! 🤯

Telemetry shows that PIA and NOR were running similar setups, so that lap (1:14.939, just 0.193s slower than last year's pole) was likely achievable!

2) TOP SPEEDS:

The Alpine drivers deployed a lot of energy (ERS) on the main straight: GAS and PIA were matched at 317km/h, but then GAS gained 16km/h (PIA just 11km/h). This was worth 0.116s, so his performance was great anyway.

RBR is a low drag car, and their sidepod update was aimed at reducing drag; so far, their top speed has been excellent.

RUS had high drag and also weak ERS deployment on several straights (lower PU mode).

3) HIGH-SPEED GRIP (Downforce):

Mercedes' cornering is excellent, yet McLaren still has the edge under braking.

Those of you who really love data and want to support my page will find the 63 analyses I’ve produced so far through this link 👇

https://buymeacoffee.com/f1dataanalysis/imola-gp-analyses-repository-3694635

What's YOUR main takeaway from FP2? 👀

Imola GP - Quali and Race Preview

Imola is one of my two home GPs, and I decided to make my ‘Quali and Race Preview’ article free for everyone to celebrate! (Normally exclusive to subscribers.)

Any feedback is very appreciated; I hope you’ll enjoy the read! 😁

Mirco / Formula Data Analysis

https://buymeacoffee.com/f1dataanalysis/imola-gp-quali-race-preview-3695080

IMOLA GP QUALI ANALYSIS 🏎

🟠 McLaren quickest overall, yet struggled on the main straight: they probably chose to deploy less energy there (8km/h deficit to RBR: huge!) as it was fine elsewhere.

🔵 RBR had a less loaded setup (excellent top speed, slow in the fastest corner). Yet VER could stay full-throttle more than others!

⚫️ Mercedes was efficient (high top speed, yet good high-speed cornering performance) and has sustainable deployment (was 6km/h quicker at lap end than at the beginning).

🟢 ALO got a brilliant P5; a better placement was impossible due to the car's terrible low-speed cornering performance (13km/h deficit to McL).

Notes on Imola Race

🔵 FLAWLESS drive by VER, who won against most odds through a brilliant T1 overtake!

🔴 Ferrari recovered 13 places! LEC could be penalised, though. Ferrari is quick… under specific conditions
Should they have asked HAM to give DRS to LEC to defend from ALB?

🔵 Heavy points for Williams (14).

🟢 Aston didn’t capitalise.

YOUR take? 🤔

IMOLA GP - RACE PACE

Main strategy: 1 set of mediums, 2 of hards.

Gap (s/lap):
1) 🔵 RBR (VER)
2) 🟠 McL (NOR) +0.18
3) 🔴 Ferrari (LEC) +0.58
4) 🟢 Merc (RUS) +0.87
5) 🔵 Williams (ALB) +0.95
6) 🟡 RBs (HAD) +1.25
7) 🟣 Alpine (GAS) +1.29
8) ⚪️ Haas (BEA) 1.32
9) 🟢 Aston (ALO) +1.57

Last year's race was much closer in pace: 3 teams within one tenth!

Surprisingly, RBR GAINED vs McL, while Ferrari and Mercedes experienced a big setback in pace.

IMOLA GP - TIME TO REACH 200 KM/H

Verstappen's launch was terrible: this makes his turn 1 overtake even crazier! 🤯

- ⚪️ BEA and 🔴 HAM were quickest to reach 200km/h;
- 🟠 PIA needed 0.4s more, and 🔵 VER 0.5s more;
- RUS overtook VER as he needed 0.3s less than him to reach 200km/h, but was then blocked by PIA.

The Hards were slightly QUICKER (-0.065s) than the Mediums on average.

Made via @JMP_software

MONACO GP - PREVIEW:

A track made of extremes:
- 2 mandatory pits (!);
- Softest compounds (C4-C6);
- Traction is crucial. Cornering? Not so much.
- Max downforce: Teams will run very loaded wings to extract all the downforce they can, as the resulting drag penalty is tiny.

Ferrari is expected to run the same wing used last year, to save money and design time.

📸: @pirellisport