(Reuters) – Some statistics for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Italy’s Imola circuit, round four of the Formula One season:
Lap distance: 4.909km. Total distance: 309.049km (63 laps)
2021 winner: Max Verstappen(Netherlands) Red Bull
2021 pole: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes One minute 14.411 seconds
2021 fastest race lap: Hamilton, 1:16.702
Race lap record: Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:15.484 (2020)
Start time: 1300GMT (1500 local)
IMOLA
The race, at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, is named after the surrounding region for the third time. It has previously been designated the Italian Grand Prix and San Marino Grand Prix.
This time it will be in the sprint format, with pole decided on Friday for a 100km race on Saturday that then defines the starting grid for Sunday.
Anti-clockwise Imola hosted the 1980 Italian Grand Prix and then from 1981 became home to the San Marino Grand Prix until 2006, when seven times world champion Michael Schumacher won for a record seventh time.
Sunday will be the 30th F1 world championship race held at the circuit.
Brazilian triple world champion Ayrton Senna and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger died in accidents over the 1994 race weekend.
The circuit is fast, bumpy and quite narrow, making overtaking tricky.
Hamilton (2020), Verstappen and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (Renault, 2005) are the only current drivers to have won at Imola.
In the 29 races to date at Imola, only nine have been won from pole. Another nine winners have come from second on the starting grid. No winner has started lower than fifth.
RACE WINS
Hamilton has a record 103 career victories from 291 starts, the most recent being in Saudi Arabia last December.
Ferrari have won 240 races since 1950, McLaren 183, Mercedes 124, Williams 114 and Red Bull 76.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has won two of three races so far this season.
POLE POSITION
Hamilton has a record 103 career poles, most recently qualifying fastest in Saudi Arabia last year.
Leclerc has been on pole twice this year, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez taking the other.
Red Bull and Ferrari are the only teams to have got both cars into the final phase of qualifying at every race so far this season.
FASTEST LAP
Leclerc has won the fastest lap bonus point in every race so far this year.
POINTS
Leclerc is 34 points clear in the championship, a bigger margin than any driver enjoyed at any stage of last year’s battle.
The Saturday Sprint now offers points for the top eight, instead of top three.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
