#and 'Charles is closer to Senna than Carlos is to him'

[f1]

FACTS AND STATS: Red Bull match Mercedes best-ever season start as Hamilton takes 10th Montreal podium

The opposition is definitely getting closer, but it was not close enough to stop Max Verstappen winning in Canada, the Dutchman putting his win tally level with that of a certain Brazilian legend, as well as helping his team to a century of F1 triumphs. But there were plenty of fascinating figures further down the order too… • Verstappen’s 41st Grand Prix victory ties Ayrton Senna’s career total. • It was also the 100th Grand Prix victory for Red Bull Racing. They are only the fifth constructor to reach that total, and only the second in the last 26 years, following Mercedes. RACE REPORT: Verstappen wins Canadian GP to claim Red Bull’s 100th victory and equal Senna’s tally • Red Bull have now won eight races in a row to start the year, matching Mercedes’ best-ever start to a season in 2019, and they are only three behind McLaren’s record of 11 in a row at the start of 1988. • Verstappen is the first driver to lead three consecutive races from start-to-finish since Sebastian Vettel in 2012. READ MORE: Verstappen hails ‘incredible’ milestone as he helps Red Bull hit a century of F1 wins • Verstappen has now led every lap since 4.45pm local time on May 7 in Miami. • Today was Verstappen’s 27th consecutive race finish, the longest run on the grid. No podium, but Ferrari likely won't complain about P4 and P5 in Montreal • At Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso took his sixth podium in the season’s opening eight races – that is twice as many as he scored in his previous seven seasons combined. • Interestingly, in the past, Alonso has had more failures to finish in Montreal (eight) than at any other circuit. READ MORE: Alonso says he pulled off ‘70 laps of qualifying’ to beat Hamilton in ‘amazing’ battle for second • Lewis Hamilton was third for Mercedes. Montreal is now the eighth circuit on which Hamilton has recorded 10 career podiums. • Charles Leclerc took P4 for Ferrari. He has only finished higher once this year (third in Azerbaijan). • His team mate Carlos Sainz followed him home in P5. Sainz has now finished fifth in four of the last five Grands Prix. • Sergio Perez’s P6 for Red Bull was his best finish in Montreal since 2017. Bottas kept up an impressive point-scoring record at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve • Alex Albon’s P7 was Williams' best result in a race since George Russell was second at Spa in 2021, which was a half-points race. It was their best in a full-points race since Nicholas Latifi was seventh at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix. DRIVER OF THE DAY: Albon's stunning P7 for Williams gets your vote in Canada • Esteban Ocon took P8 for Alpine. The Frenchman has scored points in all four of his starts in Montreal. • Lance Stroll, P9 for Aston Martin, has scored points in his home race four times out of five (he has finished ninth three times). • Thanks to finishing in P10 for Alfa Romeo, Valtteri Bottas has now scored points in his last eight consecutive Canadian Grands Prix. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[slow-button-off]

I think I have found my favourite reddit post.

I have never ever seen a comments section so united against the OP ever.

RB, Ferrari, Merc fans all having the same opinion

As per request the link

[f1chronicle]

Why The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix At Imola Is Going To Be More Interesting Than You Think?

13, they say, is an unlucky number. But then, are all things in life marred by bad omen?

No. Right?

But what do you do when the numeric value and a racetrack called Imola get together to give us Round 13 of the 2020 FORMULA 1 season.

Surely, there ought to be a bit of a concern.

One notes, more so for it’s here at the heart of Northern Italy that the sport lost arguably the greatest in FORMULA 1.

A Haunting Memory, That We Still Struggle To Stay Clear Of

Ayrton Senna (image copyright Wiki Commons)

So as FORMULA 1 brings back Imola- a polarizing venue- 14 years- since it last raced here- there’ll be feelings and a mixed vibe altogether around the returning track.

After all, it was here at a corner described as horrible, understandingly so, that we lost the great Ayrton Senna.

You can get drives with many more wins and titles but that Senna-esque DNA?

The vastly superior race craft and car handling, the energy, emotion, do you have one full day.

Wait, there’s also a problem.

With Imola returning, what also returns is one of the most hated words in FORMULA 1 lexicon.

 Tamburello.

Maybe, the feelings won’t change all that much ever.

But is this ‘legitimate’ dislike (if not out and out hatred) of the corner, not to mention, a sense of permanent loss it reminds us all about Imola?

One wonders- what might transpire on the track come November 1, 2020 as the venue of the former GP event- San Marino Grand Prix- returns as Emilia Romagna Grand Prix?

Agreed there’s this stickiness in life, particularly about things one finds hard to let go of.

But should one only stick with the paralyzing fear Senna’s death evokes; can we not try to reflect on the ‘brighter days’ instead of only dwelling on what happened here on May 1, 1994?

This is, unless it doesn’t strike one at all, a track where none barring one driver raced back in the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix.

The Iceman Cometh Again To Imola

Imola, ITALY: Finnish McLaren-Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen sits in his car in the pits of the Imola race track before the third practise session, 22 April 2006, on the eve of the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy. AFP PHOTO DAMIEN MEYER (Photo credit should read DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images)

Some call him the grid’s ‘Old Man,’ but back in the day, he was probably as his current teammate Antonio Giovinazzi and Carlos Sainz Jr.’s age (as they’re today)

Right Kimi?

That it was a 41-year-old not his talented teammate who was responsible for giving Alfa Romeo a new lease of life in a season where big gains have often meant putting the car in Q2 (first at Spanish GP, followed by Italian GP, and then, Tuscan GP), stands in Kimi’s favor.

Probably fair to say the old man hasn’t completely lost it.

Moreover, to his advantage- his wealth of experience being the prime factor at this point- will make for an interesting sight at Imola, especially given the younglings in cars with nearly similar-or-or arguably better race performance have failed to even open their account so far.

But the aforementioned doesn’t undermine George Russell, even as his car is perhaps mired under the black clouds of 1994.

Younglings To Embrace Imola For The 1st Time, Not Kimi Though

Nevertheless, Imola would bring palpable excitement of watching how might some of the current grid’s best young drivers perform in what’ll be their maiden run here.

Yes, the very track where the Alfa Romeo driver, retained for 2021, emerged P5 (back in 2006), when the likes of Latifi, Albon, were 11 and 10, with both Max and Charles being 9-years-old, respectively.

Can It Be #7 For Mercedes and Lewis?

Source: Espn (Lewis winning Tuscan GP)

Moreover, rather even more interestingly, Imola could well be the stage where Mercedes and the great Lewis Hamilton inch closer, rather the closest to a 7th Constructor and Driver Championship, respectively.

The math suggests, all Mercedes are to ensure is to leave the circuit with a 176-point advantage over Red Bull, the only team that has managed to play spoilsport, not to mention, Alpha Tauri’s incredible triumph at Monza (with Gasly being the hero).

In a year where the team and their mighty achiever haven’t put a foot wrong, barring a win opportunity lost here and there, the sport has seen the dazzling duo smash the rest out of the park.

Was always expected? Not really, since 2020 has also been a season where barring the last lap tyre delamination at the 70th Anniversary GP (that almost spoilt the team’s chances), star driver Lewis Hamilton has grappled with uncharacteristic mistakes owing to penalties, here and there.

With another qualifying battle hopefully one that’ll only add to the excitement of seeing something action-packed minus accidents, can Imola do something incredible like a Monza or Tuscany? Let smiles prevail over a track where one often associates darkness or tears!

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