2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

The 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Emirates Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2020) was a Formula One motor race which took place on 1 November 2020 at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. It was the first Formula One race held at the Imola circuit since 2006 and the first-ever running of a race there under the name of Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The race was the 13th round of the 2020 Formula One World Championship.

2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Race 13 of 17[lower-alpha 1] in the 2020 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Layout of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
Race details
Date	1 November 2020
Official name	Formula 1 Emirates Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2020
Location	Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.909 km (3.050 mi)
Distance	63 laps, 309.049 km (192.034 mi)
Weather	Partly cloudy
Attendance	0[lower-alpha 2]
Pole position
Driver	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes
Time	1:13.609
Fastest lap
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:15.484 on lap 63 (lap record)
Podium
First	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes
Third	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault
Lap leaders

The 63-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, with his teammate Valtteri Bottas taking second place, and Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo taking the final podium place. With their drivers finishing first and second in the race, Mercedes secured the World Constructors' Championship, breaking the record for the most consecutive World Constructors' Championships, with seven.

Background

This was the first time since the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix that Imola has hosted a Formula One Grand Prix.[1] Kimi Räikkönen was the only driver entered who had previously raced at the track in Formula One, having done so from the 2001 to the 2006 edition of the San Marino Grand Prix.[2] The race weekend was held over two days rather than the traditional three days, hosting only one practice session of 90 minutes on Saturday morning before qualifying.[3]

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

The 2020 Formula One World Championship was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the originally planned Grands Prix were cancelled or postponed, prompting the FIA to draft a new calendar. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was not originally featured on the 2020 schedule, but was added in August 2020 in order to maximise the number of races in the season.[4] Initially, 13,000 fans were expected to attend the race.[3] However, due to a surge of cases attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, organisers announced that the Grand Prix would take place behind closed doors.[5]

Entrants

Ten teams (each representing a different constructor) each entered two drivers. The drivers and teams were the same as those on the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for either the race or practice.[6]

Tyres

Sole Formula One tyre manufacturer Pirelli brought their C2, C3 and C4 compound tyres for teams to use in the race, the middle range of the five compounds available in terms of hardness.[7]

Practice

Lewis Hamilton finished the only practice session fastest ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.[8]

Qualifying

Valtteri Bottas took pole by 0.097s ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton. Pierre Gasly's 4th place was Scuderia AlphaTauri's best qualifying result as a constructor and the best qualifying result for the team since the 2008 Italian Grand Prix when they competed as Scuderia Toro Rosso.[9]

Qualifying classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:14.221	1:14.585	1:13.609	1
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:14.229	1:14.643	1:13.706	2
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda	1:15.034	1:14.974	1:14.176	3
4	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda	1:15.183	1:14.681	1:14.502	4
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	1:15.474	1:14.953	1:14.520	5
6	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing-Honda	1:15.402	1:14.745	1:14.572	6
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:15.123	1:15.017	1:14.616	7
8	26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri-Honda	1:15.412	1:15.022	1:14.696	8
9	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Renault	1:15.274	1:15.051	1:14.814	9
10	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	McLaren-Renault	1:15.528	1:15.027	1:14.911	10
11	11	Sergio Pérez	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	1:15.407	1:15.061	N/A	11
12	31	Esteban Ocon	Renault	1:15.352	1:15.201	N/A	12
13	63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes	1:15.760	1:15.323	N/A	13
14	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:15.571	1:15.385	N/A	14
15	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	1:15.822	1:15.494	N/A	15
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:15.918	N/A	N/A	16
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:15.939	N/A	N/A	17
18	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari	1:15.953	N/A	N/A	18
19	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	1:15.987	N/A	N/A	19
20	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari	1:16.208	N/A	N/A	20
107% time: 1:19.416
Source:[10][11]

Race

Valtteri Bottas initially led from pole while Max Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton to move up from 3rd into 2nd at the start. On the second lap Bottas hit some debris on the track which damaged his car, slowing his progress for the remainder of the race. Daniel Ricciardo overtook Pierre Gasly at the start to move up into fourth place, only for Gasly to retire from the race in the early stages with a coolant leak.

Bottas and Verstappen pitted for new tyres earlier in the race. Hamilton pitted during a virtual safety car meaning the pitstop cost him less time than his rivals, allowing him to lead the race after the first round of pitstops. Verstappen eventually passed Bottas, only for a tyre failure to cause his car to leave the track and get beached in the gravel trap at the Villeneuve chicane. This brought out out a safety car and bunched up the field for the final few laps of the race.

During the safety car period George Russell, who had been running in 10th, spun and crashed his Williams car into a wall between Piratella and Aqua Minerale whilst trying to warm his tyres. After the safety car restart Daniil Kvyat moved up several positions into fourth place whilst Alex Albon spun from fifth and dropped to the back. Ricciardo inherited third place behind the two Mercedes drivers after Sergio Pérez pitted for new tyres behind the safety car.[12][13][14]

Race classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	63	1:28:32.430	2	26^1
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	63	+5.783	1	18
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	63	+14.320	5	15
4	26	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri-Honda	63	+15.141	8	12
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	63	+19.111	7	10
6	11	Sergio Pérez	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	63	+19.652	11	8
7	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	McLaren-Renault	63	+20.230	10	6
8	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Renault	63	+21.131	9	4
9	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari	63	+22.224	18	2
10	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari	63	+26.398	20	1
11	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	63	+27.135	19
12	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	63	+28.453	14
13	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	63	+29.163	15
14	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	63	+32.935^2	16
15	23	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing-Honda	63	+57.284	6
Ret	63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes	51	Accident	13
Ret	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda	50	Puncture/Spun off	3
Ret	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	47	Gearbox/Illness	17
Ret	31	Esteban Ocon	Renault	27	Gearbox	12
Ret	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda	8	Coolant leak	4
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1:15.484 (lap 63)
Source:[11][15][16]

Notes

• ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.
• ^2 – Romain Grosjean finished 12th on the track, but received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.[15]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Lewis Hamilton 282 2 Valtteri Bottas 197 3 Max Verstappen 162 4 Daniel Ricciardo 95 5 Charles Leclerc 85 Source:[17]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Mercedes 479 2 Red Bull Racing-Honda 226 2 3 Renault 135 4 McLaren-Renault 134 2 5 Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 134[lower-alpha 3] Source:[17]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Notes

1. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic saw several Grands Prix cancelled or rescheduled. The revised calendar consisted of seventeen races.
2. The Grand Prix was held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.
3. Racing Point was deducted 15 points after a protest from Renault was upheld regarding the legality of their car.[18]

References

1. "What is the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix?". Autosport.com. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
2. "Raikkonen 'wondered what the others were doing' during mesmeric start in Portugal". Formula1.com. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
3. Benson, Andrew (1 October 2020). "Formula 1: Imola to allow more than 13,000 fans to attend each day". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
4. Morlidge, Matt (25 August 2020). "Nurburgring, Portugal and Imola races added to F1 2020 calendar". Sky Sports. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
5. Rauli, Giacomo (28 October 2020). "F1: il GP dell'Emilia Romagna a Imola si svolgerà a porte chiuse". Motorsport.com (in Italian). Retrieved 28 October 2020.
6. "2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
7. "Tyre compound choices and set allocations for last seven Grands Prix of 2020". Pirelli. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
8. "FP1: Hamilton quickest as Verstappen splits the Mercedes in sole Imola practice session". Formula1.com. 31 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
9. "Bottas beats Hamilton to take pole at Imola as Verstappen survives Q2 scare to take 3rd". Formula1.com. 31 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
10. "Formula 1 Emirates Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2020 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. 31 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
11. "Formula 1 Emirates Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2020 – Starting Grid". Formula1.com. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
12. Benson, Andrew (1 November 2020). "Lewis Hamilton wins Emilia Romagna GP as Mercedes win constructors' title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
13. Richards, Giles (1 November 2020). "Lewis Hamilton wins Emilia Romagna GP as Mercedes claim seventh F1 title". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
14. Kalinauckas, Alex (1 November 2020). "F1 Emilia Romagna GP: Hamilton overcuts wounded Bottas for Imola win". Autosport. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
15. "Formula 1 Emirates Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2020 – Race Result". Formula1.com. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
16. "Formula 1 Emirates Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2020 – Fastest Laps". Formula1.com. 1 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
17. "Emilia-Romagna 2020 - Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
18. "Racing Point deducted 15 points and fined heavily as Renault protest into car legality upheld". formula1.com. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.

External links