ITALIAN GRAND PRIX (#3 - IMOLA)

Also known as the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. This was a race that started so promising and just got worse and worse and worse. I don't even want to dwell on it.

Free Practice (only one of the weekend)

• there’s only one practice this weekend and it’s on a Saturday morning for an hour and a half with qualifying later today on Saturday

• Ocon drove through someone else’s pit box

• Not very many drivers have driven this track before and it’s the first time F1 has been at this track for a long time

• A lot of problems with people not following the strict track limits

Qualifying

• both Bottas and Albon had good times in Q1 but both were deleted for track limits so they have to go again with only 7 minutes left so the pressure is on for them

• Out in Q1: Grosjean, KMags, Kimi, Latifi and Gio

• In Q2, Max reports no power

• While Max is in the garage for his no power issue, Alex Albon spins on track and it just feels completely like it’s falling apart for Red Bull in Q2 but there’s hope because the guys are working on Max’s electrical issue which is what they’re saying it was and Alex can change tires and they might be able to stay in for Q3

• They got Max fixed in time miraculously! They sent Max and Alex back out and at the last minute they both make it into Q3!

• In Q2, Stroll and Vettel had times deleted

• George Russell had an awesome time in Q2 and sadly it wasn’t good enough for Q3 but was very impressive

• Out in Q2: Perez, Ocon, Russell, Vettel, and Stroll

• In Q3, they released Daniel right into Max’s path in the pit and it was drama

• Hamilton went way wide and put it on pole but the stewards didn’t delete it and then when Albon later went fifth they immediately deleted it and now he has no time and is last

• At the last second, Bottas gets pole! Then Hamilton (ha), then Max, then Gasly!

Race

• Gasly is starting 4th! So good

• Hamilton predicts a boring race because the track is so narrow and there’s nowhere to pass but this is the first time we’ve had DRS

• By the end of lap 1, Bot keeps the lead, Max has passed Lewis into second, now Lewis is third, yes!!

• Also by the end of lap 1, Kevin Magnussen has spun around, which was caused by Vettel (surprised? No) and Lance Stroll is plumb last hahah

• Ocon ran into Stroll’s front wing and tore it off on first lap which caused the first lap yellow but Stroll pits and goes back out

• They don’t know how to get the Stroll front wing off the track without a safety car but they found a gap in traffic so they didn’t need a safety car thankfully

• Kevin and Vettel under investigation for causing a collision hahah

• Ahhhhhhhgggggg Alfa Tauri radios to Pierre that the car has a terminal situation so he has to box and retire from fifth

• 14/63 they pit Charles early and possibly trying the undercut

• Tire degradation a lot higher than expected so a lot of people putting around lap 15, much earlier than they thought

• Charles locked up behind daniel after he got his new cold tires on and now he will have a little flat spot for the rest of the Grand Prix if it’s a one stop

• Alex passed Kvyat for position and they touched so we will see if there’s damage

• Hamilton says he’s going to go really fast and they shouldn’t try to stop him ugh

• Hamilton is trying to stay out when max and bot pitted to see if he can over cut, of course he is

• 22/63 they tell Bottas he has damage on the floor which no one knows how he got but here we go with Mercedes trying to put Hamilton back in front

• Max reports that his battery is charging really slow

• Both Bot and Hamilton have track limits warnings

• 28/63 Charles does some amazing driving past Kevin Magnussen as they all train up behind Magnussen

• 29/63 Ocon pulls over with a clutch problem and his back right tire is smoking

• IT DOES TRIGGER A PERFECTLY TIMED SAFETY CAR FOR HAMILTON AND HE PITS TO GET AHEAD OF BOTTAS, the Mercedes conspiracy is alive and well. Stupid stupid stupid. It’s amazing how rigged this is.

• Martin Bundle says it’s as if Mercedes has their own button to trigger that because it was so well timed for them

• I think it’s interesting how the virtual safety car was juuuuust long enough to put Lewis in the lead. It was a short safety car

• Bottas locks up in lap 36 and Max gets close to him

• Turns out what retired Gasly was a coolant leak

• They finally pit Seb at lap 40 and it’s SLOW, it’s a 13.1 second stop!! And so he is out of the points again

• Max reporting mode 8 is the "worst ever" hahah

• 43/63 Bottas goes wide and Max gets past into second!! Woo!

• Kevin is getting a huge headache during this race from up shifting and says it’s like getting kicked in the head every time

• 50/63 Kevin has to retire

• 52/63 SOMETHING BREAKS ON MAX’S CAR AND HES IN THE GRAVEL WITH A BLOWN BACK RIGHT TIRE AND HE HAS TO RETIRE

• Max triggers a safety car which Bot is in a better position for than Hamilton who is complaining about where he was when they pulled the safety car and so Hamilton can’t Pit

• Oh never mind Hamilton does pit during the safety car

• BEHIND THE SAFETY CAR George gave it a little bit of throttle to warm the tires and it just turned 90 degrees into a wall and crashes all over the signs and so now they have to clean up George’s car too

• NOW LANCE STROLL HAS RUN DOWN HIS FRONT JACK MAN WHO DOES A FULL TUMBLE BACKWARDS and they have to bring the medical man to this guy who is limping badly

• The footage of George sitting next to the scenes of his crash just totally dejected is truly upsetting

• 58/63 safety car ends and race restarts

• ALEX ALBON SPINS ON THE RESTART, no one hit him, he just dropped the throttle and it spun by himself, very nearly took out a McLaren in the spin but luckily avoided it

• Then KVYAT passes Charles into 4th, how could this get any worse

• Alex Albon continues but he is plumb last

• Perez tried to get past Charles into 5th but he couldn’t do it, Charles stays ahead

• And after the race, Grosjean gets a 5 second time penalty for track limits

• Hamilton in first, Bot in second, Ricciardo in third! Daniel is so exited, "holy mac and cheese balls"

• Mercedes win the constructors championship blah blah blah seven constructor championship in a row blah blah blah no ones ever done it before blah blah blah