F1 Tuscan GP 2020 Pre-race Talking Points

There’s a lot to discuss before the first-ever F1 Tuscan Grand Prix. Major movement in the driver market, a new race venue for F1, and history for the sport’s oldest-ever participant. Lewis Hamilton narrowly on pole from Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull Racing-Honda’s Max Verstappen in third has been the most common qualifying result in 2020. There’s still plenty to discuss, however.

Warp speed

Motorsport fans who follow MotoGP were already aware of the fast and flowing nature of the Mugello Circuit. F1 has never held a race at Mugello despite using it as a testing venue. On Twitter, six-time MotoGP champ Marc Marquez estimated that F1 cars would dip just below the 1min.18sec mark. Lewis Hamilton’s pole position lap easily beat that estimate as he flew around the 15-turn, 5.245km circuit in 1min.15.144sec. That’s an average lap speed in excess of 251kmph! For comparison, that’s over half a minute faster than the 2019 MotoGP Italian GP pole position time set by Marquez. The onboard cameras and TV graphics have been eye opening as drivers take turns at well over 250kmph. The feedback from the drivers has been overwhelmingly positive as the circuit is a far cry from the ‘Tilkedromes’ that F1 often visits. 

Ferrari 1000

It is the most famous name in all of motorsport, of that there is no debate. Whether you buy into the hype around Ferrari or not, you can’t help but tip your hat to a manufacturer that literally exists to go racing. And come raceday, Ferrari would have started 1,000 world championship F1 races since the F1 championship began in 1950. The SF-1000 is sporting the same livery as Ferrari’s F1 car in the 1950 season, but thankfully, the car itself is not that slow. Given Ferrari’s struggles in Monza, that may not have been a far-fetched possibility. Charles Leclerc managed fifth in qualifying, which puts Ferrari back in the fight for third place in the constructors’ championship. Sebastian Vettel, however…

Vettel on the move

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Now that it has been confirmed that Sebastian Vettel will be headed to the team currently known as Racing Point in 2021, the German appears even less motivated to give Ferrari his best effort. While Leclerc was fifth, Vettel could only manage 14th in qualifying. He was even out-qualified by former Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who is now with Alfa Romeo-Ferrari. Racing Point morphs into Aston Martin next season and as far as Vettel is concerned, he would much rather be in the ‘pink Mercedes’ right now. 

Back to reality

The nature of the Monza circuit, great driving, and freakishly good luck led to Pierre Gasly taking an unlikely win for Alpha Tauri-Honda at Monza last week. While Gasly qualified 10th at Monza, he could only manage 16th at Mugello today. The vast difference in the nature of the two circuits makes it unlikely that Gasly will win his second race on Sunday. The fast and flowing corners played into the hands of Mercedes and Red Bull Racing-Honda, whose cars have the high downforce and grip required to master Mugello.