We hope you’ve all survived the comedown following this writer’s hometown race. What a thrill it was to have the circus in town! With record crowds (and a whopping 38% of those being women – yeah the girls), Mother Nature turning it on, and Crofty (💘) having been spotted by tipster and birthday babe Caroline Brown-Greaves carbo-loading on a big bowl of pasta at Cecconi’s on Flinders Lane, the season feels well and truly underway as we head into Imola, Italy.
Imola is the first European race of the season, located in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy and home to the dynamic duo of Italian supercars and spag bol. Easy Seb!
Last year this circuit offered its fair share of drama, with one George “loves powerpoint” Russell crashing into a Valtteri “espresso demon” Bottas, causing Rusty to lose his cool and slap old Val in the helmet trackside. George’s petulance didn’t stop him from grabbing Valterri’s Mercedes seat, but it did highlight he is the kinda guy who would steal from the bank in a game of Monopoly when you go to the bathroom (hate those guys…). With the vast majority of this tipping league consisting of Australians, it’s fair to say: we love a melee, so bring on whatever chaos this circuit has in store for us.
This week’s race is also the first of the season to use this Sprint Race qualifying formula. Tbh, the jury’s still out as to whether this format trumps what many would argue is an already immaculate and perfected qualifying formula, but the fact of the matter is it does change the time and way we tip. I have it on good authority that there will be questions on both qualifying and the sprint race this week, so attenzione!
For those new players this year who are following along for the first time in real time (Benvenuto! Felice di verdeti!), in a nutshell:
1. This week, the order of the grid will be decided by a short, 30 minute(ish) race that will be raced when qualifying is normally raced on Saturday afternoon.
2. The grid for the sprint race will be decided by a normal qualifying format run on Friday afternoon.
3. Confused? Yeah me too. All you need to know is – more racing baby!
But the pressure is surely well and truly on Red Bull who are honestly just struggling to finish a race, with the reigning champ, VPN, only in sixth position and being outshone by his teammate Checo and both Mercedes and Ferrari drivers. However, as a wise tipster (and our famous, reigning, and seriously good looking two-time f1.natic champ) often says, it’s a long season baby! Strap yourselves in!
As for our hometown hero and perennial heartbreaker DR3 and his crew at McLaren, we’re about to see whether the progress they made in Melbourne really was just specific to the track, and that Lando was right to be quick to downplay any improvements we’ve seen.
Finally, is it just quietly Alex Albon’s world and we’re all just living in it? The man has scored points after three races with Williams when it took Rusty a good 37 to do the same. Don’t sleep on this tall, unassuming, beautifully spoken, tyre-whisperer King. Or do, whatever.
With a public holiday for many of us on Monday, there’s absolutely no excuse not to give La Lucciola a call, mention f1.natic for a discount and chow down on a bowl of spag bol, a tiramisu (or three, if you’re Siu-Mei Lim, aka Michael Siumacher GOAT (lmao)) and a glass of Nebbiolo (how good is a crunchy, light Italian red wine) while you enjoy it all live.
It’s race week, baby! Buona fortuna and happy tipping!
XOXO
GG 💋
