F1 2022 - Round 4: Emilia Romagna (Imola)

dulpit

Round 4 this weekend. Some key questions:

• Will Ferrari continue their dominance, especially when on home soil?
• Can the Red Bull find reliability to match the speed it has?
• Are Mercedes still bouncing around like mad?
• Will Aston Martin continue their awful run of form?

Don't forget that this is the first sprint of the year, so qualifying is Friday. New points system for Sprints this year, with 8 points for first, down to 1 point for 8th. The results of the Sprint will be the starting order for the race, but the fastest time in qualifying on Friday will be officially the polesitter (even if they may not actually start from 1st on the grid on Sunday).

Driver's Standings (top 10):

1. Charles Leclerc (71 points)
2. George Russell (37)
3. Carlos Sainz (33)
4. Sergio Perez (30)
5. Lewis Hamilton (28)
6. Max Verstappen (25)
7. Esteban Ocon (20)
8. Lando Norris (16)
9. Kevin Magnussen (12)
10. Valtteri Bottas (12)

Constructor's Standings (top 5):

1. Ferrari (104 points)
2. Mercedes (65)
3. Red Bull (55)
4. McLaren (24)
5. Alpine (22)

TV Times (Irish):

• FP1: Friday @ 12:30
• Qualifying: Friday @ 16:00
• FP2: Saturday @ 11:30
• Sprint: Saturday @ 15:30
• Race: Sunday @ 14:00

Charlie-Bravo

And dopn't forget that both Formula 2 and Formula 3 are on this weekend as support races...Should see some good action in the F2 Sprint and Feature races.

Frank Bullitt

Lads if the weather is like today there'll be no race. 😅 Can't wait to hit the track tomorrow. And it turns out driving in Italy is as ridiculous as the most exaggerated accounts. 😅

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118958356#Comment_118958356

Why what was the weather like there?

Burkie1203

Weather for weekend is sketchy

Pissing basically non stop since I left Milan this morning. I'm up in the hills a bit so maybe it's not so bad down in the town itself but was fairly bad when I passed through earlier.

Frank Bullitt

Yup, could be a very wet weekend ahead.

Forecast for the moment looks like rain all day today, dry all day tomorrow, some small showers Sunday.

Just realised the sprint qualifying format helps me, otherwise I could see most teams barely running today

bennyx_o

There's an Orange warning for both rain & thunderstorms til 2pm today and another orange rain (and wind) warning for Saturday night (8-12pm) but not much rain showing for Sunday.

F3 practice just started on at the moment and the track is soaking, can hardly see the cars

@[Deleted User] can be our man on the ground for realt ime weather updates

Jordan 199

Or better still, Buttonftw can be our pitlane reporter.

Joeface

Buttonftw: Weather reports ....why is this all that came into my head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8nOUpj85FE

Charlie-Bravo

F2 practice delayed. TV coverage of sweeper machines in slow-mo. It's going to be a long day!

cherryghost

What happens if P1 and Quali doesnt go ahead today? Is quali done tomorrow morning instead of P2?

ShamoBuc

The weather really is going to cause havoc this weekend, wet....wet and possibly dry for Sunday.

Should make things seriously interesting.

flazio

Would they scrap the sprint and just run a normal qually for the race perhaps?

eeepaulo

Is this going to be the first running of the new cars in the wet? Any shenanigans expected with ground effect? Less / more spray?

bennyx_o

In proper wet conditions, yes. They did wet the track on the last day of testing in Barcelona but you can't really compare that to the conditions in Imola. I remember seeing a piece that showed with the way the rear diffusers etc are designed, it's designed to send the dirty air up at a steeper angle to make following closer so I think we should see the spray go higher and maybe not as far behind a car if that makes sense

Vicxas

Be interesting to see these cars in the wet

Vicxas

Williams acting more like lawnmowers than cars

Cool_CM

Looks like an ice rink out there

Smell of the brakes lads!

Just this second it's eased to mizzle.

Jesus you can really see them struggling through Tamburello, dunno how it fcones across on TV.

Ferraris seem later on throttle but it's full revs immediately

I've seen more saves in 20 minutes than all last season, they're pushing hard mostly. Gotta love the sprint weekends after all :p

Cool_CM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118960702#Comment_118960702

Well jealous! Enjoy!

namloc1980

Toto Wolff looks a beaten man on Sky. The Mercedes has fundamental issues.

Charlie-Bravo

Anyone experience bad audio sync with Sky F1? I notice it moreso when commentators are reacting way quicker than the picture shows...the F1 audio seems ok but it's the commentary audio that seems way ahead.

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118960920#Comment_118960920

I noticed that watching last race, but I assumed that was because my Sky F1 wasn't necessarily coming to me via the official channels...

Funny enough lads I've had the same issue with sky few. It's either fine or off for the entire weekend whichever source I choose. As above, not exactly official/legit but is odd. Also volume tends to be way, waaaay lower than other channels.

BikeRacer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118960920#Comment_118960920

I noticed exactly the same thing. It's very annoying!

Think this might be running late😅 hadnt the camera out for the 3rd red flag, just got a swapper on. The skill through the chicane is ridiculous, the reaction speeds are beyond belief.

dulpit

This is from their YouTube, poor Bottas going for a spin. It's clear from this that the audio is ahead of the picture...

https://youtu.be/W7HzPnVmxm0

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118961431#Comment_118961431

I've been noticing some quality issues with TV in general that wouldn't be allowed a fewyears ago. For the Africa cup of Nations the whole way through the tournament the audio was over a second off and they didn't even correct it for YouTube highlights.

No clue what's happening, f2 lads are all out so short quali?

One the alpines, I think Alonso, rapid through Tamburello

Itssoeasy

Just turned this on and have it recorded so can rewatch it if I want to. All three minutes of it. That Williams car of Albon isn’t looking as bad as I expected.

Would Williams ever just **** the **** off 😂

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118961741#Comment_118961741

He passed away last year. 😐

MadYaker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118958745#Comment_118958745

Did you fly to Bergamo and rent a car? I did that a few years ago. Driving around Milan definitely got the heart rate up a bit but once you get used to the way they drive it's fine. Weather forecast for tomorrow and Sunday is much dryer.

Jordan 199

Great to hear Nico Rosberg again.

Since 5 minutes left in qq there's an awful smell at Tamburello, someone's engine go?

Jordan 199

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118961796#Comment_118961796

Could be Ocon.

Burkie1203

Porpoising on merc is bonkers

ShamoBuc

Hamilton scrapes in.

But he could yet be caught.

No idea of standings but to the. Naked eye and ear Ferrari are clearly faster. McLaren look good too, Merc a bit slower. Ferrari are completely different on corner exit though, it's like a switch.

ShamoBuc

Hamilton ...by the skin oh his teeth 4/1000

skipper_G

Thought I saw a slow moving car trying to enter the pits while on board with Bottas, might be that was Ocon with a mechanical issue?

Burkie1203

Merc looks undriveable

Itssoeasy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118961812#Comment_118961812

My brother who was at the Grand Prix in Melbourne said the same thing that the Ferrari looked ridiculously fast.

Hamilton got into Q2 but that’s way closer then you’d think the mercs should be.

BikeRacer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118961806#Comment_118961806

That car looks like a ball of shite to drive.

namloc1980

Hamilton was lucky there. Ocon made a mess of qualifying so Hamilton squeaked in P15.