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The 2023 F1 Imola GP is expected to be one interesting weekend. The race comes at a crucial juncture in a season that has featured far too many 'boring' or 'uneventful' races for the fans' liking. The race kicks off the European leg of the season and with that comes the prospect of new upgrades being brought to the cars.
There has been this inherent feeling of the paddock reeling under Red Bull's dominant form and with the kind of gap that the team enjoys, it's not going anywhere.
As we head to the sixth race of the season, we have Max Verstappen and Red Bull leading the march from everyone else. However, there is a keen eye that everyone will have on what the upgrades could mean for the teams.
Last season, it was the 2022 F1 Imola GP where Verstappen and Red Bull turned the tide in the championship fight. What can we expect with the 2023 edition of this race? Well, let's find out in our preview and predictions feature for the weekend.
2023 F1 Imola GP: Preview
Key storylines
#1 Upgrades, upgrades, and upgrades
Mercedes is supposed to be bringing an 80 percent new car this weekend and the German unit is not the only one. Almost every team is bringing a major set of upgrades with hopes of gaining an advantage over the opposition.
Red Bull, the championship leader and the benchmark in F1 at the moment also has a few things in the pipeline that should come in handy.
With the 2023 F1 Imola GP weekend having three free practice sessions, there is enough time to understand whether or not the upgrades work. Could we see a few surprises this weekend? In the world of cost cap, it's very hard to pull such a thing off but at the same time, never say never at such a nascent stage of these regulations.
#2 The uncharacteristically early start to the silly season
By the looks of it, Lewis Hamilton is in no rush to sign an extension with Mercedes, Nyck de Vries has got his first warning from Helmut Marko and Toto Wolff is looking to finagle Mick Schumacher into a seat at Williams. It is a bit strange to see the silly season kickstart this early but that's where we find ourselves at the moment.
Just the sixth race into the season and we have Nyck de Vries and Logan Sargeant fighting for their drives with intriguing getting stronger around Lewis Hamilton's future.
#3 The on-track action (or the lack of it)
The on-track action or the lack of it has been under the scanner and the lack of overtakes has been questioned by the fans and even the drivers as well. The cars have seen significant aero development over the last year and that has made them hard to follow or overtake. To add to this, the questionable and almost silly decision of reducing DRS zones in the last two races has not helped either.
While there have been voices cautioning an early conclusion about these regulations, the 2023 F1 Imola GP will be run on a track that is notoriously tough for pulling off overtakes anyway. It will be interesting to see what kind of racing will be on display this weekend as voices questioning these regulations get louder.
Form Guide
On Form
Yuki Tsunoda deserves special praise for the kind of season he's had until now. The Japanese driver has been removing the chinks in his armor in the last two seasons and that has seen him become a more reliable performer.
The young driver has outshined teammate Nyck de Vries and heads into the 2023 F1 Imola GP full of confidence with hopes of another point finish.
Out of form
Charles Leclerc had an underwhelming weekend in Miami where the driver's crash in qualifying cost him significantly. This season, Leclerc has alternated between breathtakingly brilliant and somewhat disappointing race weekends. Before the brilliance of Baku where he grabbed pole position, there was the disappointment of Australia as well.
At Ferrari's home race, Leclerc will be hoping to try and put together a flawless 2023 F1 Imola GP as he looks to get his season back on track.
2023 F1 Imola GP: Predictions
Who wins the race?
It's hard to deny that Red Bull holds the advantage at Imola (just like any other circuit this season). However, at the same time, what Sergio Perez has shown in the first few races is the uncanny ability to be superior to Max Verstappen out of the traction zones over a lap.
With the track layout featuring plenty of these traction zones, Perez could hypothetically hold an advantage over Verstappen. Having said that, what we saw in Miami was a very focused Verstappen that had realized in Baku that he could not take Perez lightly.
Any day of the week if one has to choose between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, especially when the Dutch driver is completely focussed, you have to go for the reigning champion.
For the 2023 F1 Imola GP, we're predicting Max Verstappen to win the race even though things could get very competitive.
Surprise of the weekend (Team)
Ferrari's traction zone advantage over most of its competitors was an impressive sight in Baku and while it does not carry over into the race, it does stick in qualifying. Imola is going to be one of those races again where Ferrari could exploit that advantage.
To add to this, the car has been an able challenger in qualifying anyway when everything is aligned. For the team's home race, expect Ferrari to do a repeat of Baku at the 2023 F1 Imola GP and secure a podium finish.
Surprise of the weekend (Driver)
McLaren was a very impressive piece of machinery last season on this track and that helped Lando Norris secure a podium. The young McLaren driver has been severely thwarted by the constant underperformance of the car and the frustration has been evident in the last few races. Having said that, this might be the weekend where McLaren shines.
If that happens, keep an eye on Lando Norris to do something brilliant during the 2023 F1 Imola GP.
Disappointment of the weekend (Team)
Speed out of traction zones and straight-line efficiency are two areas where the Mercedes appears to struggle more than others. This was evident in the last two races where the lack of straight-line speed hurt the team big time as well. Imola is not the best of tracks to pull off overtakes and for a car that might be better in races as compared to qualifying.
Even though Mercedes might be bringing an 80 percent new car, with what we've seen on evidence, we might struggle to see the team have a good 2023 F1 Imola GP weekend.
Disappointment of the weekend (Driver)
This might be a bold pick but there is a very strong case for Lewis Hamilton repeating the disaster of last season. Mercedes has shown a reluctance of hooking things up over a single lap.
To add to this, while Russell has been able to extract that extra tenth here and there to scrape through into Q3, Lewis has struggled.
Compounding the matters could be the lack of overtaking opportunities in Imola and we could be looking at a more disappointing weekend for the F1 legend.
