F1 drivers mark 30th anniversary of former champ's death at Imola
Formula One arrives at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with a look to the past — it's been 30 years since Ayrton Senna's death — and the future prospect of tougher competition for Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
Drivers joined a memorial run around the Imola track on Thursday evening to mark the anniversary of three-time champion Senna's death in a crash during the 1994 race there.
Senna was a childhood hero to many, including seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who was nine in 1994, and is a part of F1 history for the 13 current drivers who had yet to be born when he was killed.
Drivers wore shirts in Senna's helmet colours of yellow with blue and green stripes as they gathered around a memorial at the Tamburello corner where he died.
The Brazilian and Austrian flags were laid out in memory of Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, who was killed in a crash in qualifying one day earlier.
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, who retired from F1 in 2022, organized the memorial event with the Senna Foundation and will drive the Brazilian great's 1993 Mclaren car in a demonstration during the race weekend.
FRIDAY PRACTICE
Verstappen finished fifth in the first practice session on Friday. Charles Leclerc was the fastest Ferrari driver, ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz Jr.
Alex Albon, who extended his contract at Williams on Wednesday, was left stranded when his car unexpectedly shut down on the track 20 minutes into the session.
The Imola track has been slightly modified since F1 last raced there in 2022. Some asphalt run-off areas have been replaced with gravel traps, heightening the “old-school” feel that many drivers love.
It also stops drivers from trying to gain time by running wide of the track, a persistent source of F1 controversy.
Last year's race at Imola was cancelled because of fatal flooding in northern Italy.
NORRIS' NEXT STEPS
For Lando Norris, it's back to work after scoring his first F1 win at the Miami Grand Prix two weeks ago.
The Mclaren driver said Thursday he didn't sleep the night after the Miami race as he partied with the team and friends. He then headed off to spend two days playing golf at Augusta National, home of the Masters.
“I scored my best day of golf that I had, which was even better than a win, almost,” the British driver said.
Norris said he was surprised by Mclaren's pace in Miami — when he was helped by a fortunately-timed safety car — but warned it doesn't mean the team can match Verstappen's dominant Red Bull team consistently yet, let alone fight for the title.
“I think we're still too far behind,” he said. “But we're not a mile away. We're talking one or two tenths (of a second) a lap at this point between being ahead in qualifying and being able to stay ahead in the race, versus being behind and just not having what it takes.”
Norris finished eighth in the first practice on Friday.
FERRARI'S FUTURE
Expectations are always high when Ferrari races in Italy, and the team is aiming to give its passionate “Tifosi” fans something to cheer about.
Red Bull is still the team to beat, though, even though Sainz won the Australian Grand Prix for Ferrari in March when Verstappen's brakes failed.
Ferrari has been inconsistent this year, doing well at some tracks like Miami and poorly at others like China.
“I think we're going to be very track dependent and, hopefully, Imola is one of those good tracks for us. And we can put on a good show in front of the crowd,” Sainz said Thursday.
What could shake things up next year is if Hamilton, who is replacing Sainz at Ferrari next year, gets his wish and Red Bull car designer Adrian Newey joins him in Italy.
Newey is widely considered F1's greatest-ever designer with 13 drivers' championships and 12 constructors' titles. He will leave Red Bull in early 2025, in time to help a rival team build a car for the new regulations in 2026.
Newey said in a recent video interview with his manager Eddie Jordan that he'll take a vacation and “probably go again” with a new team.
“If you had asked me 15 years ago, at the age of 65, would I seriously be considering changing teams, going somewhere else and, doing another four or five years, I'd have said you're absolutely mad. And then a few things happened at once,” he said in comments made public on Thursday.
Newey was surprised by all the attention: “I never thought it would be big news, to be honest.”