F1 Talk: More Magic to come in Mugello?

It was an extraordinary Formula 1 race on Sunday which saw Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri take the win after a stunning drive to hold off Carlos Sainz under some crazy circumstances.

Surely we will not be treated with another classic?

But, this weekend sees the second of two Italian races as Mugello makes its Formula 1 debut.

Mugello is a fantastic circuit, a track that will sort out the men from the boys with its big elevation changes, high speed turns and most importantly a lack of run-off so track limits will not have to be policed for once.

In terms of the new and returning circuits, Mugello is the one I have been looking forward to the most. I do not expect great racing but qualifying will be breathtaking.

The middle sector is the highlight of the 3.26 miles track. High speed chicanes with gravel traps waiting for any driver who makes a small error as well as two very fast right handers, the Arrabiate turns.

These sixth and seventh gear turns will be mesmerising, I just hope the cameras are set up in a place that does the speed justice.

G-forces will be very high and the relentless nature of fast turn after fast turn will punish the tyres.

At the 2012 mid-season, Mark Webber said “10 dry laps around Mugello, is the same as doing 1000 laps around Abu Dhabi in terms of satisfaction whilst Sebastian Vettel commented  “unfortunately we don’t have this track on the calendar. It’s an incredible circuit with a lot of high-speed corners.”

Overtaking will be difficult but having a track which will be a real drivers challenge and seeing the drivers build up to qualifying like they do at Monaco will be very exciting.

I feel Mercedes will be even more dominant this weekend with all the medium to high speed turns and the way their car can change direction. Do not be surprised to see them over a second clear in qualifying.

Hot temperatures might push the teams towards a two stop race, especially if a safety car or virtual safety car comes out at the right time. Getting up to speed quickly will be crucial and any lost track time in practice will prove more costly than normal.

The midfield has been impossible to read this year with Renault, Racing Point and McLaren all showing really strong pace.

For me, I see McLaren challenging Red Bull once again although the latter should not be as poor as they were at Monza.

Red Bull do not understand the car it seems. When they went the wrong way with the car in Hungary they took time to bring upgrades which worked. But, the problem came when they introduced their low downforce package to Monza.

The difference between downforce packages are huge in Formula 1. It is clear Red Bull are puzzled why their is such inconsistency with their car and this has a significant effect on the airflow all the way through the car.

There are clear design flaws and its inexcusable for Red Bull to get things so wrong after so much expectation.

That said, I expect Monza was a one-off and they should be back to having the second fastest car at Mugello but the inherent problems with the car is why I do not expect to see them close the gap to Mercedes as the season goes on, unlike previous years.

Ferrari celebrate their 1000th race in Formula 1 but it is set to be another troublesome event. A new livery to mark that milestone looks quite nice to me but the car performance is what Ferrari will be most worried about.

Spa and Monza were two of Ferrari’s toughest weekends in Formula 1 history. Given that Mugello will be a medium downforce circuit, Ferrari should be much closer to the midfield battle and should realistically aim for points.

Ferrari have said they will bring very few upgrades to the car for the remainder of 2020, putting their resources into 2021 and 2022.

It looks an absolute handful to drive and given how challenging Mugello is, Vettel and Charles Leclerc will have their work cut out to score some points.

Gasly will look to build on his excellent form at Mugello with another great performance whilst Sergio Perez will be driving for a seat in Formula 1 after it was confirmed he will leave Racing Point at the end of the year with Vettel replacing him.

I will be shocked if Perez is not on the grid given how reliable he is and the money he can bring to a team such as Haas or Alfa Romeo.

The loss of not having Zandvoort and Suzuka on the calendar this year has been made up for having Mugello.

It has been a few years since F1 had a new race on the calendar and what a venue the drivers and teams have got in store. 59 laps around magnificent Mugello, it will be a cracker.