| By: Charles Bradley, Global Editor in Chief
After taking an unexpected pole position for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola last weekend, Lewis Hamilton admitted that his Mercedes F1 car was “more on the knife-edge” than previous years.
With echoes of 2017’s “diva” car, it actually looked like Mercedes took a decent step forward with its performance over Bahrain – which sounds odd to say, as Hamilton won there! But that was a race weekend where Red Bull was truly superior, Verstappen having taken pole by almost four tenths and really should have won.
At Imola, Hamilton’s pole and fastest lap in the race was evidence that the updates on his W12 have gone in the right direction. A change in diffuser layout and experimentation with downforce levels in practice – that saw its two cars run with different rear wing assemblies – shows there’s a huge push going on right now to catch up with its big rival.
While the tech battle off the track is full-on, how about the fantastic action on it? I know the conditions were tricky but when was the last time the winner and the runner-up both suffered off-track excursions on their way to the podium? This is F1 at its unpredictable best. |
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| Editor's Choice
Mercedes arrived at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after a bruising pre-season Formula 1 test and some warning signs about Red Bull’s potential in the Bahrain race. |
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