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The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix 2020 was the 13th round of the 2020 F1 season, and took place at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy, on November 1st.
Lewis Hamilton won the race after starting in the 2nd position, followed by Valtteri Bottas, who originally had the pole position, and Daniel Ricciardo completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 30 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 13-14: 6 stops
- Laps 50-53: 9 stops
The fastest pit stop was Max Verstappen's, stopping the clock at 29.427 seconds during his pit stop on lap 18, while the slowest one was was Sebastian Vettel's, who stopped the clock at 40.497 seconds, 11.070 seconds slower than Verstappen, during his pit stop on lap 39.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
The race was not obvious in terms of pit stop strategy, with different teams and different drivers choosing to make anywhere from 1 to 3 stops.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 2 stops strategy.
1 stop
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10Antonio Giovinazzi
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3George Russell
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7Esteban Ocon
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2Charles Leclerc
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2Daniel Ricciardo
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14Max Verstappen
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1Kevin Magnussen
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8Nicholas Latifi
-
9Kimi Räikkönen
2 stops
-
2Romain Grosjean
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1Lando Norris
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4Daniil Kvyat
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9Alexander Albon
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3Carlos Sainz
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1Valtteri Bottas
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5Sergio Pérez
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1Lewis Hamilton
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2Sebastian Vettel
3 stops
-
2Lance Stroll
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 6.2 positions on average, the ones on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 0.89 positions, while those on a 3 stops strategy gained 2 positions on average.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 1 stop strategy was the best option, even if Lewis Hamilton managed to win the race making 2 stops.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There were some incidents during the race, with 5 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, George Russell, who had to retire due to an accident on lap 51, Max Verstappen, who had a puncture that could not be repaired on lap 50, Kevin Magnussen, who could not race due to illness on lap 47, Esteban Ocon, who experienced issues with the gearbox on lap 27, and Pierre Gasly, who had a loss of water pressure on lap 8.
Accident
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George RussellLap 51
Puncture
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Max VerstappenLap 50
Illness
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Kevin MagnussenLap 47
Gearbox
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Esteban OconLap 27
Water pressure
-
Pierre GaslyLap 8
Qualifying
Valtteri Bottas dominated all the qualifying sessions and took the pole by 0.097 seconds, with a final lap time of 1:13.609. Lewis Hamilton was right behind him, helping Mercedes score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 13 out of the 15 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that all of the drivers that took place in Q3 managed to improve their times in this last session.