EMILIA ROMAGNA GP IMOLA RACE 13

DANIEL RICCIARDO RACE DRIVER #3

Daniel Ricciardo extended his run of points to six consecutive races after picking up two points in Portugal. The Australian heads to Imo- la this weekend aiming to return to scoring double figures as the Championship grows close.

Q&A

Are you looking forward to driving at Imola for the first time? How do you look back on Portugal? Imola is another new one for us. I’m excited about going there as I think, as a team, we leave Portugal feeling neither happy nor too we’ve had a great run of racing at new places and I’ve enjoyed disappointed. It was a race where we wanted to score points to them all so far. It’s also back to another Italian race and I’ve had make sure we keep in touch with our direct rivals. From Friday it good results in Italy this year so I’m hoping to have another strong was clear the weekend would be tough, especially with learning one this weekend. I haven’t raced at Imola before and I’m sure the tyres, so to come away with some points is okay. We couldn’t there will be a bit of an aura about the place as there is so much do much more than eighth and ninth, so we go to Imola wanting history there and that will be nice to experience. to return to competing for the top six places.

What do you know about the track? The track itself is a short one and I think overtaking will be difficult, but it’s a relatively long straight so we’ll have to see on Sunday. It’s medium downforce with some medium to fast corners so it’ll be an exciting one and a challenge at the wheel. We’ll be looking to get as many points as possible after a challenging weekend in Portugal, so I’m looking forward to going there and doing the best possible job.

We couldn’t do much more than eighth and ninth, so we go to Imola wanting to return to competing for the top six places.

Daniel Ricciardo

ESTEBAN OCON RACE DRIVER #31

It was a huge effort from to manage his tyres for over 50 laps last weekend as he scored four points in Portugal. Now the Frenchman returns to Imola, the venue where he secured the Formula 3 title over six years ago.

Q&A

What do you know about Imola? What are your post-Portugal thoughts? I raced there in 2014 in the FIA European Formula 3 It was good for the team to have both cars in the points as Championship. I have very good memories from that it was quite a challenging weekend for us. We’ll analyse why weekend, as it’s when I won the title with one round to go. we weren’t quite as quick as we have been in recent weeks I won the first race from pole position, finished fourth in and look to find improvements for Imola where we aim for a the second race and then on the podium again in the final better result. On my side, I was really satisfied to do over 50 race. I’d say Imola is actually one of my favourite circuits and laps on the same set of tyres. It was really well managed by I can’t wait to drive a Formula 1 car there – it will be extra the team and I’m happy with how everything went during special. I also love racing in Italy, my heart has a big place for the race. this country.

What’s a lap like there? The track itself has some interesting combination of corners with awesome character to them, such as Acque Minerale. It’s slightly downhill, quite fast and then climbs up. There are a lot of changes of angle at this track and that’s what makes it so characteristic. It has special kerbs too and types of chicanes that we do not see all year. As a driver, you love these combination of corners as it’s the most rewarding thing. Imola should have more grip [than Portugal] as the track hasn’t been resurfaced for a long time and it’s used regularly by other series.

We’ll analyse why we weren’t quite as quick as we have been in recent weeks and look to find improvements for Imola where we aim for a better result.

Esteban Ocon

MOVING ON UP CIARON PILBEAM, CHIEF RACE ENGINEER , DP WORLD F1 TEAM

The team recorded its fifth double points finish of the season in the Portuguese Grand Prix to remain within sight in the fight for third in the Constructors’ Championship. Chief Race Engineer Ciaron Pilbeam looks ahead to this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

Q&A

What does the team know about Imola? What is the feedback from the Portuguese Grand Prix? Imola is another essentially new circuit for Formula 1 this year, as it is several years Portugal was a slightly disappointing weekend for the team. We missed some since we last raced there. The cars are very different now, the tyres are different, performance compared to where we have been at recent events, both in qualifying and the circuit has changed a little, with the removal of what was the last chicane and the race. Despite this we executed the weekend well and benefitted from the effectively extending the Start-Finish straight. It is a medium downforce circuit, with a misfortunes of some of our close rivals in the Constructors’ Championship. Overall, mixture of slow and medium-speed corners. we were satisfied with the final outcome, albeit with some work to do to understand the lack of pace.

How has the team planned to manage the short weekend format? One of the features of the event is the shorter weekend format, with a single 90-minute practice session on Saturday morning before qualifying in the afternoon and the race on Sunday as usual. This will mean that we go into qualifying with less information that we normally have, so we will have some quick decisions to make in the gap between practice and qualifying.

EMILIA ROMAGNA GP PREVIEW SPANISH GP PREVIEW

POINTS FOR COLLET AND DAVID IN SPA AS FOCUS TURNS TO IMOLA ON FORMULA 1 SUPPORT DUTY

Renault Sport Academy Drivers and race in Imola this weekend on “I’m really looking forward to Imola. We did really well at the the Formula 1 support race programme. beginning of the season there. We need to understand what went wrong in Spa at the weekend as it’s the first time we’ve missed some pace. We know this weekend will be a challenge especially The duo were in Spa-Francorchamps at the weekend for round seven of the 2020 season as we only have one practice session. We need to be on the pace with both scoring solid points. Tricky conditions meant Caio and Hadrien had to battle in straight away. I have a lot of confidence in the team that we’ll be strong this weekend in Imola. It’s the final three rounds of the the races. Caio finished seventh in race one and sixth in race two with Hadrien eighth and championship and everything counts. It’s also going to be special fourteenth across both events. with the Formula 1 there.”

Caio is 23 points adrift of the lead in the championship with Hadrien remaining in tenth. CAIO COLLET

“Imola, for the second time this season, is coming up! The first round there earlier in the year was a tough one for us, but, since then, I know what went wrong and I absolutely can’t wait to show all the improvements we have made since then. It will be my first ever time driving at a support race for Formula 1, so it will be a very special weekend!”

HADRIEN DAVID

EMILIA ROMAGNA GP PREVIEW TYRE CHOICES

WHITE HARD (C2) YELLOW MEDIUM (C3) RED SOFT (C4)

DANIEL 2 2 6

ESTEBAN 2 2 6

EMILIA ROMAGNA GP PREVIEW