Broken radios and right to reverse: What you missed from the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

With the rain arriving ahead of the start, the various troubles for multiple drivers before even arriving at the grid, the drama at the start that never really ended until the chequered flag, one or two things might have passed you by during Sunday’s race.

The 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix had a lot to live up to expectation-wise following the curtain-raiser in Bahrain, but boy did it deliver in spades as Max Verstappen struck back at Lewis Hamilton to claim his first win of the season.

Lando Norris rebounded from his deleted qualifying time to make it onto the podium with a brilliant drive for third, on what was a big day for his F1 career and his prospects against his highly-rated new team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo.

Here are a few of the things you might have missed during a frenetic Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

 

Leclerc’s broken radio

The Ferrari driver was very kind when race leader Verstappen got out of shape entering the first Rivazza corner about to launch into his race restart.

Charles Leclerc displayed incredible restraint in not overtaking the Red Bull, but should he have taken the opportunity? Earlier in the race when Sergio Perez went off the road at Piratella under the safety car, Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly were lightning fast to make sure the Mexican paid for his error.

Gasly even had to take action to avoid hitting Ricciardo ahead such was his speed to beat the Red Bull driver for position as the Mexican made it back onto track.

Leclerc’s situation was slightly more difficult though with his team radio going haywire for the remaining laps post-red flag. His distressed message about an earpiece while sat in the pitlane prior to the restart was never sorted, and the Monegasque driver finished the race without being able to hear his team.

Even while driving behind Verstappen on the out-lap, Leclerc had no idea the restart would be a rolling one, only the notion that it could be a possibility having been informed while out of the car in the pitlane. Had his engineer been quick enough over a functioning radio, Ferrari might have had a car leading the restart at Imola, a sight the Tifosi would have loved to see.

 

Verstappen’s prime slot on the grid

The gazebos made an appearance on the grid ahead of lights out as mechanics worked to keep the grid slots as dry as possible, and it worked out perfectly for Verstappen.

His third-place slot was one of the drier-looking on the start/finish straight and as it turned out, probably the best one to be in at the sharp end of the grid.

As pole-sitter Hamilton and team-mate Perez launched off the front row and into the unknown, Verstappen’s second-gear launch was good but what tipped the scales in his favour was running into another dry slot ahead that the Mercedes had left behind.

It was the second phase of the start where the Red Bull made up the distance and with a gap just about wide enough for an RB16B, Verstappen was quickly alongside and nosing in front of his championship rival into the first chicane.

From that point on it was his race to lose and, barring a small snap and sideways moment at the race restart, he kept out of trouble and collected a valuable 25 points on a difficult day.

With just a single point in the standings between Hamilton and Verstappen, the smallest of things can make the difference and an extra few metres of dry track did in this case.

 

Mirror, signal, manoeuvre

With his front wing hanging off the car, limited space available to manoeuvre in and rear tyres perilously in the gravel trap, Lewis Hamilton flicked down the gears and, eventually, found reverse gear.

His quick thinking saved his race and eventually his title lead after a brilliant comeback drive helped along by a healthy slice of luck. Ultimately it was his decision to back out of the Tosa gravel rather than panic and dig himself into an even greater hole that put him on the path to second. And it was all within the rules.