The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was a somewhat-unexpectedly entertaining race after pre-event predictions of another processional event and McLaren walkover. But with Imola’s contract now up, will Formula 1 be back? And will the FIA ever appease Haas over Saturday’s qualifying controversy?
A reminder of track potential
I got the unusual vantage point of being able to cover a race weekend remotely this time around, before a run of 13 straight rounds on the road, and it served as a timely reminder of how the majority of people consume their racing.
Those watching a race on television are a far bigger audience than those present in person, and aren’t burdened by the added complication of ticket prices or the logistics of where to stay, or the concern about what time to leave to try and make it into the track in time on race day morning…
Knowing that the latter led to some of my colleagues facing a two-hour journey trying to access the track pre-race, it is important to remember that for many paying fans there would be similar issues to deal with. But once the race started, whether they’d endured the traffic or not, we were treated to a really good grand prix.
The battle to get to Imola was worth it in the end for fans
Ferrari
And that was another well-timed offering as Imola looks unlikely to remain on the calendar beyond this year, with the race-hosting contract now having expired. It is not a venue that can match some of the fees that can be paid elsewhere, and there is significant demand for races on the schedule.
Prior to lights out, I’d have also said it’s not a track that often produces much in the way of overtaking or wheel-to-wheel action, but this year’s edition proved that theory wrong.
What that also highlights, is that any circuit can see a dull, processional grand prix if qualifying goes smoothly for all teams and they line-up largely in pace order. Add in a one-stop race and tyres that allow drivers to push, and action can be lacking even if they are all performing extremely well behind the wheel.
Drivers will miss Imola’s fast sweeps
Ferrari
If there are a few surprises in qualifying, and tyres are a challenge, then you can get variation in performance at different stages, and every venue except Monaco will at least offer an opportunity to make a pass somewhere.
The tracks can do their bit with modifications and DRS zones, but so many aspects add up to the way a race plays out that they should never take all of the blame. They can certainly learn from Imola’s undulations, flow, and lack of concrete run-offs, though.
Franco calls for calm
The immense excitement and interest that follows Franco Colapinto from South America is a great addition to F1, even if the treatment of Jack Doohan was harsh from Alpine in my view.
Franco Colapinto’s Argentinian fans brought enthusiastic support to the circuit. Others went on the attack online
Sam Bagnall/Sutton Images
But the passion of a small minority of fans crossed the line in Imola, where Yuki Tsunoda received a number of abusive comments on his social media posts having appeared to raise his middle finger at the Argentinian after being blocked during Friday practice.
Sure, Tsunoda probably shouldn’t do that, but some of the comments he then received were completely unacceptable, with Colapinto even feeling the need to address them himself.
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“I know they are extremely passionate, and they are always very harsh on people. They have to give respect, and that’s what we all want,” Colapinto was quoted as saying by ESPN. “There is a lot of hate on social media … So of course we always try and want, for all the drivers, to keep it respectful and keep it calm there.”
To be fair to Colapinto, he had already made a similar point during the Thursday press conference, saying: “The Argentinian fans and, I think, Latin American fans, they are very passionate, very euphoric and they love supporting their athletes and people that they feel close to.
“They’ve always been there and they’ve always been very supportive. But I think we always try to keep the respect for all the drivers on the grid – that’s the main thing the fans should do and something to improve on.”
And the response of the majority of Colapinto’s fans, and Argentines in general, was to publicly show support for Tsunoda and denounce the abuse. While the need for both the driver and fans to speak up was unsavoury, they should be applauded for doing so, and it just proves it was a vocal minority at fault.
More FIA confusion
On Saturday evening, the FA Cup Final had a controversial incident where Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson handled the ball outside of his box, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) did not deem it a big enough infringement to be worthy of a red card, and so did not intervene.
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It was a call that did not go down well with many of the pundits covering the game, who felt the wrong call was still made despite VAR’s presence.
In that instance, though, the referees are still making judgement calls. Whereas in at the end of Q1 there was a very messy situation between race control and Haas that should not be open to interpretation.
After Franco Colapinto crashed at Tamburello, onboard footage showed Ollie Bearman completed his qualifying lap a little over a second before he received the red flag warning lights on his dash, and the trackside light panels started flashing red. Yet his time was deleted, with race control stating he had not crossed the line in time.
Haas argued its case, believing the evidence was clear that the session had not yet been red-flagged, and that the stewards were paying attention to the wrong line on the track. The stewards – to their credit – delayed the start of Q2 to ensure the timing data they had available was correct before continuing with the session.
Bearman set a laptime fast enough for Q2, but was denied
Haas
According to the FIA, that timing data said Bearman had crossed the line 3.3 seconds after the red flag was set.
Those are not small margins that are tough to differentiate between, and the fact the footage shows Bearman to have crossed the line over a second before the panels illuminate create a discrepancy of nearly five seconds in total between the FIA’s claimed time of setting the red flag, and that reaching the drivers on track.
If such a delay exists, it needs rectifying, because a red flag is usually required in serious incidents. It also is a very simple way of explaining the situation to Haas and the rest of the paddock, but it has not responded to multiple requests on that point. If that delay doesn’t exist, then the timing data does not add up with the reality of what was happening on track.
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Haas clearly doesn’t accept the FIA’s explanation, stating on Sunday: “After discussions last night with the FIA, we have subsequently asked for further written clarification on the decision making concerning Ollie Bearman’s final Q1 lap in order for us to review more comprehensively.
“We similarly asked what measures the FIA / Race Control can put in place moving forward to ensure that this situation is avoided in the future to the benefit of F1.”
This situation has arisen despite the Remote Operations Centre that race control can lean on back in Geneva. And yet a 12-minute delay to review what should be hard facts still led to an unconvincing and unclear outcome.
