Emilia Romagna GP: F1 European triple-header begins in Imola and could define title race

Formula 1 heads to the iconic Imola this week for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and the start of a European triple-header which could dictate the path of the title race.

After making it four wins from the opening six races of the season last time out in Miami, Oscar Piastri has a 16-point advantage over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen 32 points adrift of the Australian and Mercedes’ George Russell 38 points back.

McLaren were utterly dominant in race trim as they won by more than half a minute and, should that continue, the Drivers’ Championship will quickly become a two-horse race.

But there are some critical factors to consider and a technical clampdown that could shake things up over the coming weeks, with this weekend’s event in Imola followed by the Monaco Grand Prix (May 23-25) and the Spanish Grand Prix (May 30-June 1) – all live on Sky Sports F1.

Upgrades galore at Imola

Every team is expected to bring some form of upgrade to Imola given that there has been a weekend off since the Miami Grand Prix, and that it’s easier for them to transport new parts to European events.

Teams generally also want to avoid bringing upgrades to Monaco due to it being an outlier circuit and an increased risk of crashes, therefore would have been targeting Imola several months ago.

Ferrari already brought a new floor to Bahrain in April and Verstappen ran a revised floor in Miami. However, neither of those updates have made appeared to make a significant impact on their respective deficits to McLaren.

In the case of Red Bull, Christian Horner claimed the new floor is “part of a sequence of parts that will be introduced over the coming races” which suggests we will see minor upgrades on the RB21 in Imola, possibly Monaco, and Spain.

“There is no big update for Imola. We’re at the stage of these regulations where it’s all incremental gains,” said Horner.

“We’ve been unhappy at certain races this year with performance, but we’ve still been dragging results out of the car. We’re the only team to have won a race other than McLaren this year. We’ve had a couple of poles as well. We’re working very hard to improve the car and improve that situation.

“It’s a long way to go. This championship is an absolute marathon. I don’t think you can exclude anybody in the top, probably, six at the moment as a potential contender – such is the length. And if last year teaches us anything, things can change very quickly.”

Last year did change quickly as Red Bull went from dominating the early stages of 2024 to McLaren and Ferrari suddenly being on their tails from Miami and ahead in the second half of the championship.

McLaren have been quiet about their development plans but their car has no clear weaknesses, so they will be careful to not change too much and go down the wrong path like Red Bull 12 months ago.

One factor McLaren are considering though is to make changes that will help Norris feel more comfortable in the car.

The British driver has been open that he’s “not as confident” this season compared to the end of last year but appeared to make a step forward in Miami as he was quicker than Piastri in the final stint.

Last month, Stella said McLaren are working on improving the car to make it easier to drive, particularly in qualifying, which would help both drivers.

“This is something that the team can solve,” he said.

“This is something that the team are trying to, if you want, put on a clear and precise engineering basis so that the tests and the new parts that we will bring will be exactly the ones needed.”

Mercedes are set to bring a reasonable upgrade to Imola as they also look to bridge the gap to McLaren, which is mostly from more tyre degradation.

Toto Wolff said: “The team at Lauda Drive have been working hard to do that and we will be bringing several updates over the coming races.

“F1 is a relative game, though, and we know our competitors will make progress too. It will be interesting to see how that plays out on track.”

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur confirmed there will be “some small upgrades” in Imola, which will be the first time Lewis Hamilton has raced in front of the Tifosi in red.

The raft of new parts we see over the next month will be key because the teams will put full focus into the 2026 cars and the huge regulation change.

From the second half of the season onwards, the drivers will likely have to deal with whatever is underneath them for the remaining races, which is why the current stage of the development battle is pivotal.

New Monaco strategy rules to revitalise F1’s Jewel in the Crown

F1 heads straight to Monaco after Imola for a race that will see a new pit stop rule in a bid to make the Grand Prix more exciting.

In February, F1 announced there it will be mandatory to pit at least twice during the 78 laps around the Principality.

A lack of overtaking at F1’s most famous race has led to largely processional racing in recent years due to the tight nature of the circuit and the bigger cars.

Last year, the top 10 started and finished in the same positions, with a red flag on the opening lap taking out any strategic element.

New strategy rules could lead to mistakes on the pit wall. Will teams not pit early on to get a cheaper pit stop under a Safety Car? Will some drivers do their two pit stops almost straight away? Will others leave it until the last 20 laps? It will be a strategists’ dream and nightmare, depending on how the cards fall.

“I think it will definitely help the Sunday, especially with strategy,” last year’s winner Charles Leclerc told Sky Sports News.

“The excitement on Sunday is maybe a bit less than what you will hope. The Saturday is incredible but the Sunday maybe needs a little bit of spice and hopefully this will give it.”

With two pit stops, we are likely to see the drivers pushing more compared to driving several seconds off the pace, knowing it is almost impossible for the car behind to overtake.

There will be plenty of excitement about whether an overcut or undercut is the way to go and more flat out racing on a street circuit leads to the possibility of more mistakes.

Reigning world champion Verstappen, who won the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time in 2021, said: “The focus you need to have is so much higher than any other track because it’s so narrow.

“Other street circuits you have time to rest, there’s a bit more space or run-off areas but in Monaco you don’t. A little lock up or mistake, you turn a little bit too early and you’re in the wall.

“Okay, you’re not driving on the limit all the time in the race but that is sometimes a danger as well because you tend to relax and then make a mistake. You need to keep telling yourself ‘focus, don’t relax, keep at it’. It’s a very challenging race.”

Controversial flexi-wing clampdown in Spain

It would not be a proper F1 season without a technical controversy.

After the so-called ‘mini-DRS’ controversy of last season around the level of bodywork flexing being seen on some teams’ rear wings when running at speed on track, the FIA announced new load tests for wings will be introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of May. Flexible bodywork is outlawed in F1.

New deflection limits for rear wings were introduced at the season-opener in Melbourne but the new tests in Barcelona will focus on front-wing flexing.

Footage at various races this year has shown wings on several cars moving on the straights, which may aid with straight line speed, before reverting to a stationary position for the corners, so the car still gets the benefit of having maximum downforce.

There have been plenty of eyeballs on McLaren, who were forced to make adjustments after last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to flexing.

“That makes no difference to us,” McLaren chief executive Zak Brown told De Telegraaf when discussing the impact of the stringent tests.

“We are not worried at all about that rule change. In recent times, there have been many suggestions from others about our car. And none of it was accurate.

“But the more they are distracted and focused on our car rather than their own performance, that’s a good thing.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added: “For sure it will have an effect, but how much it will affect your competitors versus your own is difficult to predict. But it’s a significant change. It’s not just a tweak. It will affect all of the cars. It’s just to what quantum.”

Ferrari will hope the combination of upgrades and the flexi-wing test brings them back into play as they trail McLaren by 152 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

“Everybody will have a new front wing in Barcelona,” said Vasseur.

“By definition and by regulation, I think it will be perhaps a reset of the performance of everybody.”

F1’s European season begins with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

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