The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the fourth race of this season, would take place this weekend in Italy. Emilia Romagna was re-introduced back to the Formula 1 calendar in 2020 after being out since 2006. The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola is the venue for the race.

Since the race was re-introduced, it has had two winners – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull). This year, however, it is unlikely that any of the two men wound win the race if the last three races are anything to go by. Both Red Bull and Mercedes have been underwhelming and have very little inspiration so far. Verstappen has failed to finish twice, and Hamilton is far from satisfied with the performance of the Mercedes W13, as he has always said that more work needs to be done.

Ferrari is, perhaps, the only team looking forward to a good weekend at Imola. They currently lead both the driver’s and constructor’s standings, having won the last three races, and they seem set to win some more. This is quite incredible for a team that produced underwhelming results these last two seasons. On Sunday, either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz, who just signed a new contract keeping him in the team till 2024, could claim victory at Imola. But we wait to see.

This weekend also, we would have the first Sprint of the season. The Sprint was introduced last year to replace the normal qualifying race that holds on Saturday. The Sprint is one-third of the normal Sunday race, in this case, 100km. Points would also be awarded to the top eight finishers, which is an upgrade from last year when it was just the top three finishers. Unlike last year also, the pole position for Sunday would be given to the fastest driver from the qualifying race, which holds on Friday, rather than the Sprint. Instead, the fastest driver at the Sprint would get the Pirelli Speed King crown.

Written by: Leon Osamor