The themes to watch in F1’s Imola return

Three weeks is a long time in Formula 1, but in the reshaped start to the 2021 season the teams head to Imola to pick things up after the frenetic Bahrain opener. Here's what to look out for and the developments to follow at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Alex Kalinauckas Apr 13, 2021, 1:09 PM

Upd: Apr 15, 2021, 1:40 PM

The second Emilia Romagna Grand Prix possesses something reassuringly familiar in the current uncertain climate: it’s the start of the European F1 spring.

Usually, the teams would be heading to Barcelona after a travelling back from Australia via the Middle East and Asia, but 2021 had just one initial flyaway. The Bahrain season opener was a thriller, with notable themes at the front of the field immediately emerging. But, as well as those motifs likely continuing this weekend, the Imola event is significant for every squad.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.