After a year’s hiatus, the F1 World Championship returns to Imola for the Emilia Romagna GP in the always special setting of the Enzo and Dino Ferrari Autodrome. For the premier class of Motorsport this weekend, in fact, the European Championship season will begin. We could say that in a certain sense it is one of the hottest phases of the season where the gaps between the various teams begin to emerge.
Despite the still overwhelming supremacy of Red Bull and Max Verstappen, 2024 is proving to be a championship not so obvious. In fact, during the first six races, we saw the beauty of three drivers from three different teams climb to the top step of the podium. This is one of the many reasons why there is great anticipation around the Imola GP. And not just to understand what Ferrari can do. In fact, all the attention is reserved for the updates we will see on the single-seaters. And the Prancing Horse will not be the only team to bring out the heavy artillery.
Ferrari in Imola to do well
Maybe it’s because it’s the home race, maybe it’s because the Autodromo di Imola will be colored red thanks to the many fans who will be present in the stands, but Ferrari has decided to prepare for the Emilia Romagna GP in a big way. The SF-24, which has already taken to the track in recent days at Fiorano for a filming day, will be the car more “modernized” in that of Imola. News that will be easy to spot even for less expert eyes. Yet, if Ferrari doesn’t intend to disfigure itself at its home race, it will be important Don’t underestimate your rivals of Red Bull and McLaren, with Norris fresh from winning the last Miami GP.
The Milton Keynes team will race at Imola with the second evolutionary package of the single-seater. I don’t want to come across as a “conspiracyist”, but behind this decision there almost seems to be a secret message addressed to opponentsafter the RB20 didn’t show itself as brilliant as usual in Miami.
Mercedes in limbo
Despite high hopes for 2024, the Brackley team has gone from the ambition of returning to fight with Red Bull for the title to being, at least for the moment, the fourth strength in the championship. Mercedes seems to be perpetually suspended in a kind of limbowaiting for something that is yet to come.
Among the elite teams, the Stuttgart house was the only one to have brought forward its upgrade package to the Miami race. Mercedes, in fact, just like Ferrari and Red Bull, should have started bringing the heavy artillery onto the track at Imola. And instead, surprisingly he launched the own and first attack in Miami, perhaps due to the need to score points starting from Florida. Mission successful taking into account that Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished in sixth and eighth place respectively.
Yet despite the improvements in Miami the W15 still lags behind Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren (closer to fifth place than Aston Martin than to the third of the Woking team). Precisely for this reason, Mercedes seems to have put their foot on the accelerator regarding the updates. Some new features will also make their debut in Imola with the hope that they may prove to be of fundamental importance in understanding the mysterious behavior of the German single-seater.
And if the car’s lack of performance wasn’t already a worry for Toto Wolff and co, we can’t forget that at the end of this season Hamilton will leave Mercedes. Ferrari, perhaps in anticipation of the Englishman’s arrival in Maranello, is relentlessly continuing its strengthening campaign by dedicating itself to “shopping” within the Mercedes staff. The Cavallino, just on the eve of the home match, announced that they had stolen Loic Serra and Jerome d’Ambrosio from the Germans.
Who are Ferrari’s two new signings?
Loic Serraborn in ’72, exactly like D’Ambrosio will begin his adventure in Maranello starting next October 1st, after having respected six months of gardening leaving. After a degree in mechanical engineering and having worked for Michelin, BMW-Sauber and Mercedes, the man who made the Silver Arrows’ fortune in tire management will take on the role of Head of Chassis Performance Engineering reporting to Enrico Cardile.
Different future for Jerome d’Ambrosio who, after the farewell of James Vowles was a sort of “deputy Toto Wolff” for Mercedes, in Ferrari he will be the new Deputy Team Principal and will work closely with the team’s number one, Vasseur. But it won’t be the only role that the former F1 driver will hold within the Italian team. D’Ambrosio, in fact, the Ferrari Driver Academy will also followthe Prancing Horse program reserved for young talents.
For Leclerc, news on the track
With Sainz having already managed to climb to the top step of the podium in Australia, the Red fans are hoping for a special gift from Leclerc. As if the pressure from the fans wasn’t already enough, the Monegasque driver will race accompanied by in Imola a new race engineer. After the Miami weekend, in fact, Ferrari made it known that starting from the Emilia Romagna GP, Charles Leclerc’s track engineer will no longer be Xavi Marcos. Taking the Spaniard’s place will be Bryan Bozzi, already active member of the team Italian for a decade.
Bearman returns to the track
After the extraordinary debut in the Saudi Arabian GP, where he finished the points race in seventh position, Oliver Bearman will return to the track in Imola. The Briton will drive for Haas in the first free practice session, taking over from Kevin Magnussen. For the little jewel of the Ferrari Driver Academy this will be the third free practice session with Haas in the top racing series after having already driven the VF-23 in Mexico and Abu Dhabi.
Gasly remembers Senna
The GP that will take place in Imola this weekend it will be very heartfelt for two reasons. First of all because the top racing series officially makes its return to Emilia Romagna after last year the GP had to be canceled due to the violent flood that hit the entire region. But above all, one of the reasons that makes the Imola event special is the thirty years since the death of Ayrton Senna. Although the Brazilian driver died on May 1st, his tragic death occurred precisely on the Santerno track.
Despite his passing in 1994, the Brazilian he is a myth and model for the majority of drivers on the current F1 grid. Precisely in this case, Pierre Gasly has decided that during the Imola race he will pay homage to Senna by taking to the track with a special helmet.
For the three days in Imola, in fact, the Alpine driver will dedicate the livery of his helmet to the three-time F1 World Champion. It is not the first time that Gasly has been the protagonist of such a gesture. In 2021, the 28-year-old already raced in Imola with a special helmet dedicated to Ayrton Senna which, subsequently, was put up for auction to raise funds for the Senna Foundation.
Russell awarded with the Bandini Trophy
Even if things aboard the W15 aren’t the best, George Russell will receive the Bandini Trophy in Brisighella thanks to “his significant contribution to the world of four wheels”. The ceremony, which will be celebrated on Wednesday 15 May, will see the award ceremony for the English driver at the Rocca Veneziana in Brisighella where Russell will arrive aboard a Mercedes 2-litre Tipo Indy of the Targa Florio 1924.
Established in 1992 in memory of the Italian driver, who tragically died in 1967 following a terrible accident in the Monaco GP, the Lorenzo Bandini trophy, over the years, has become a real institution over the years for the protagonists of the four wheels. The last driver to collect the award was Lando Norris, in 2023.
