McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in control, Ferrari floundering as F1 arrives in Europe

IMOLA – Oscar Piastri heads into this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix with the momentum of three successive wins behind him, as the McLaren driver looks to consolidate his bid for the Formula One drivers’ world title.

But with the F1 circus pitching its big top in Europe for the first time this season with a triple-header of races, as much attention will be focused on Ferrari’s struggles as on dominant leaders McLaren or Red Bull’s defending four-time champion Max Verstappen.

After six unimpressive outings in the first six races, the Italian team and their marquee signing seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton appear in front of the tifosi for the first time on home soil at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

For Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc, it has been a disappointing opening spell with the Briton, in particular, struggling to find any real pace and performance in his Ferrari – and the team promising a series of upgrades to tackle the SF-25’s problems.

Hamilton did win the sprint race in Shanghai but has yet to secure a podium finish with Ferrari in a grand prix and the team are already 152 points adrift of Piastri’s McLaren outfit.

In Miami, he and Leclerc were left scrapping over seventh place.

“On my side, this year, we have gone in quite extreme directions in terms of set-up to extract a bit more from the car. And it is always very difficult to compare drivers’ settings to explain things,” said Leclerc, who is in his seventh year with Ferrari.

For Hamilton, it has been a tough experience and this week he abandoned the distractions of social media by unfollowing everyone on Instagram where he has nearly 40 million followers.

That cancellation included Ferrari and his own dog Roscoe.

As Hamilton debuts in red in Italy, his successor at Mercedes, 18-year-old Italian Kimi Antonelli, makes his first home appearance with the Silver Arrows who, like most teams, will bring an upgraded package to the cramped and classic track squeezed between town, river and rolling vineyards.

“He grew up in Bologna, nearby, and this will be a special occasion for him,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

“But it’s also a race like any other that is worth 25 points and that’s all that counts at the end.”

As the youngest driver to take an F1 pole position, for a sprint race, to set a fastest lap and to lead a race, Antonelli has made a sensational start alongside George Russell.

But it is Piastri who has impressed the most with his poise and consistency to move 16 points clear of Lando Norris and 32 ahead of third-placed Verstappen, who has been out-driving his car to stay in contention.

“We’re back in Europe with different types of circuit, different natures of circuit,” said Red Bull chief Christian Horner. “McLaren have got the car to beat at the moment. That’s quite clear and they’re going to be tough to beat over the next few races.”

After Imola’s fast, flowing and technically challenging circuit, where it is difficult to overtake, the roadshow moves on to the streets of Monaco where a new regulation demanding a mandatory second pit stop is being introduced, and then Spain.

This weekend will also see the return of Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto to F1 as he replaces Australian Jack Doohan at Alpine, whose team boss Oliver Oakes resigned unexpectedly earlier in May. Colapinto raced in nine races for Williams last season.

In other news, Formula One’s governing body has reduced the controversial penalties dished out to drivers for swearing after a backlash from the grid.

Ahead of this weekend’s race, the FIA has removed the risk of a race ban and cut the “base maximum penalty from €10,000 (S$14,500) to €5,000”.

Importantly the new guidelines given to race stewards also now differentiates between swearing in “controlled” and “uncontrolled” circumstances. AFP, REUTERS