2022 F1 Imola GP: Race Predictions

All the shenanigans and sideshows for the Imola GP are now done and dusted. We had the Friday Qualifying, which was fun. We had the sprint on Saturday which was fun as well. Now, it's time for the big one: the Imola GP. And for this, what's more fun than jumping off the fence and making some predictions for the race?

So, let's jump straight to the predictions for the 2022 F1 Imola GP.

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Prediction #1: Max Verstappen will win the race

There, we said it! Red Bull appears to hold a slight edge in terms of race pace over Ferrari. To add to this, there are expectations of rain making an appearance in the race. If it does, that should tilt the balance further in the favor of Max Verstappen. The Dutch driver is in a league of his own in wet weather and that should give him an edge in the race.

Having said that, he needs to be careful at the start because another bad getaway would mean playing catch up in the race.

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Prediction #2: Mercedes will progress through the field

Mercedes showed impressive speed during FP2, which is another indication of the car being inherently good. It was just that the team was unable to extract the performance during qualifying. The two drivers then got stuck in the DRS train during the sprint race. With multiple factors like tire wear, pitstops, and even rain playing a role in the race, we could see its two drivers progressing through the field, making top-8 a possibility.

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Prediction #3: Rain could help teams like Haas and Alpine

During the mixed conditions, it became obvious that teams like Haas and Alpine were able to take advantage as both Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen qualified in P5 and P4 respectively. In the Sprint, however, with dry conditions, there was one-way traffic for both cars. Alonso dropped to P9 while Magnussen dropped to P8.

If the rain makes a return during the Imola GP, we could see both Haas and Alpine being competitive again. We might even see both of them make a move to the front.

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Prediction #4: Tire wear could play a role

Regardless of whether it rains or stays dry during the Imola GP, tire wear seems to be a factor in the race. In dry conditions, we have seen drivers struggle with graining, as in the Sprint. Using medium tires could alleviate graining to an extent, but it will surely play a role.

Even in the wet, tire wear could play a role as the teams have no prior experience with these new wet weather tires in terms of their life. They will be going blind into the race and will have to make allowances while driving to keep life in these tires. Drivers running into tire trouble could be something to keep an eye on in this race.

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Prediction #5: Dry or wet, Imola GP is going to be a humdinger nonetheless

One of the biggest misconceptions about the Imola GP (even ours to an extent) that was shattered by Saturday's Sprint was that the race needed rain to be interesting. Fortunately, that's not the case. The new regulations have given drivers the ability to follow other cars closely. As a result, the DRS along the pit straight has provided some great overtakes (especially Verstappen's overtake on Leclerc).

A wet race always has its perks, but even if the race is dry, this race is expected to be interesting, especially with close battles throughout the field.