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the he 2024 F1 Imola GP is a race at a very interesting juncture. This is the first race after Red Bull's first performance-induced defeat in Miami. And the qualifying on Saturday will be the first one where Red Bull has looked out of sorts compared to its competition.
In all of this, we've already had 2 of the 3 practice sessions, and both have Charles Leclerc at the top of the timesheets. Could we see the same on Saturday? What can we expect from the F1 Imola GP qualifying? Let's take a look.
#5 Mercedes is a dark horse
For a change, Mercedes does appear to be in control of how it wants the car to react. The car looks quite good on the track, and the drivers looked happy behind the wheel as well.
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The lap times were strong and competitive, and Mercedes was not too far behind the top 3. If even one of the two drivers finds his rhythm, then we could see the team qualify inside the top 5. Mercedes is our dark horse for the F1 Imola GP qualifying.
#4 Yuki Tsunoda and Nico Hulkenberg in top 10
Yuki Tsunoda might be onto something special at the F1 Imola GP. The driver appears to have some special rhythm with the car this weekend that his teammate is unable to keep up with. Nico Hulkenberg, on the other hand, is doing his usual bit of dragging the Haas into the top 10 again. Expect the German to repeat that feat on Saturday as well.
#3 Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo don't make it to Q3
At the same time, Tsunoda's RB teammate Daniel Ricciardo has been having a tough time at the F1 Imola GP of keeping up with him. While Yuki can be expected to make it to Q3, it would be hard to see Daniel doing the same.
Lance Stroll is also on a similar boat, with Aston Martin's plethora of upgrades not providing much in terms of laptime. Expect the Canadian to struggle to reach Q3, just like he has quite a few times this season.
#2 The top 3 teams are going to be very close
One thing that seems certain at this stage is that the top 3 teams are going to be very close in terms of performance. Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull will not have much to separate them. The first few laps of FP2 were an indication of that. As a result, expect the top 6 slots to be mostly occupied by these three teams.
#1 Charles Leclerc secures pole position for the F1 Imola GP
The race weekend has given a theme of it being a Charles Leclerc special. The driver has looked comfortable. He's driving excellently, and most importantly, he was the fastest in FP1 and FP2.
It's not going to be easy, and it won't be a surprise if someone else takes pole, but we're going with Leclerc for pole at the F1 Imola GP.
