Major takeaways from the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Mercedes had another 1-2 finish and secured their seventh consecutive championship, displaying their dominance in recent times.

While that is certainly newsworthy, there are plenty of other developments across Formula One to note. Here are my takeaways from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Alpha Tauri robbed of prime opportunity to catch Ferrari
On a two-day weekend which did not provide a lot of preparation time, Pierre Gasly had an outstanding Saturday. He finished with his best qualifying position, starting on the second row with former teammate Max Verstappen.

Unfortunately for Alpha Tauri, Gasly had engine issues and could not complete the race.

Gasly’s teammate Daniil Kvyat wasn’t far behind either, qualifying eighth while conjuring a massive effort to finish fourth in the race.

Alpha Tauri have now inched slightly closer to Ferrari in the constructors’ standings. They have only out missed on points once the entire season and it’s been a great season so far as they aim to potentially apply pressure to Ferrari.

It was a shame we weren’t able to see Gasly battle Charles Leclerc throughout the race but Kvyat stepped up in a big way. If Kvyat can continue to outperform Sebastian Vettel, Alpha Tauri led by Gasly could potentially catch up Ferrari by season’s end.

Sergio Perez showcases the benefits of starting 11th on the grid
Perez continues to demonstrate his points-collecting ability and could very well be fourth on the drivers’ standings had he not missed races due to COVID-19. He was unfortunate not to finish higher than sixth, although we do talk about Racing Point’s decision-making below.

He missed out on Q3 on Saturday but sometimes starting 11th can be a gift especially when you get to choose your own tyre to start on. While everyone from fourth to tenth started on the softs, Perez led the rear with medium tyres and he managed to create a gap 27 laps in which allowed him to undercut Daniel Ricciardo with fresher hard tyres.

With cars in front of Perez having yet to pit, it placed him in prime position behind the big three of Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen. Once Verstappen exited the race, Perez was in line for a podium.

Strategy was pivotal in this race which made the difference overall
There were plenty of crucial decisions that were made which factored heavily into the results that we got. Firstly, the fact that Bottas, Hamilton and Verstappen planned their qualifying session to start the race with medium tyres just meant that those three drivers were once again going to be in a race of their own.

(Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Interestingly, Mercedes pitted Bottas early to throw on hard tyres whereas Lewis Hamilton persevered as long as he could to build a large enough gap to remain in front even after pitting. Fortunately for Hamilton, a pit stop during a brief Virtual Safety Car all but ensured his track position while having the fresher tyres.

The biggest strategic point of discussion involved Sergio Perez and the call to change him to soft tyres towards the end during a safety car. While Racing Point might have thought that a game of cat and mouse would ensue with the likes of Ricciardo, Leclerc and Alex Albon, they all stayed out which cost Perez strong track position.

Ultimately, Ricciardo was the beneficiary as Perez couldn’t make up ground and finished sixth. Kvyat also pitted but he was able to take advantage of tight racing contests and unfortunately could not snatch a podium from Renault.

Midfield battle continues to heat up
All of Renault’s hopes and dreams have fallen on Ricciardo’s shoulders and two podiums in three races have propelled Renault to third place in the constructors’ standings. As it stands, Renault has 135 points while McLaren and Racing Point are on 134 points each.

Since the Eifel Grand Prix, Perez and Ricciardo have had plenty of encounters and battles for points. Their partners Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenburg haven’t had any major impact on the points.

(Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, McLaren haven’t managed to put together consistent performances. After having a fast start during 2020, their gap has since wilted, and they have now squandered their spot for third place.

This should be an entertaining battle until the end to see who comes third in the 2020 constructors’ standings.

McLaren continue to look ordinary
As mentioned on the earlier point, McLaren has struggled for consistency since the Italian Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris have had situations where one would collect points with the other outside the top ten. Additionally, when they have both scored points, they have both been towards the bottom half the top ten.

It has seemed that the upgrades that McLaren have brought in just haven’t worked. Many fans of Ricciardo will be hoping that his move to McLaren won’t be detrimental to the amazing progress he has made with Renault.

A case can certainly be made that Ricciardo has extracted the maximum out of Renault to make them look better. There’s no reason why he can’t do the same at McLaren with a Mercedes engine. However, if 2019 was evidence to go by, the Aussie may have an adjustment period early on.

Overall, a lot of early-season buzz for McLaren has since died down. Whether they can bounce back and reclaim third place on the constructors’ standings will be intriguing to monitor.