Breaking Down the F1 Pitlane Chaos at Imola GP: Lewis Hamilton & Ocon Collide While Bottas Stuck With Deja Vu

The Emilia Romagna GP was a thrilling event from the start of the race. Daniel Ricciardo took Carlos Sainz out of the race. But more chaos came into the race as there was a pit lane incident between Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon. Also, Valtteri Bottas and George Russell had a terrible pit stop during the Imola GP.

All the F1 cars started the race with intermediate tires because of the rain before the race. But after 20 laps, the drivers started losing their grips with those tires and started pitting. Who knew the pit lane would have some much chaotic drama?

Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon’s Unsafe Release

The seven-time world champion is having a poor season and the Imola GP has been a disaster for him. He started the race in P14 and was struggling to fight with the other cars with the Intermediate tires.

So he pitted to change to medium tire. But on his pit-lane exit, he ran into trouble with the Alpine driver, Ocon. As Hamilton was on the right speed to leave the pit lane, Ocon was about to collide with Hamilton’s car. The stewards find it an unsafe release from the French constructor and penalized Ocon with a 5 sec time penalty.

Pit Lane Deja Vu for Valtteri Bottas

The Finnish driver had the worst luck with pit stops. Last season with Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas ran into many disappointing results because of the pit stop. However, the one that stuck in everyone’s mind is the Monaco 2021 GP. The Finn had to retire from the race as the pit crew could not change the tire because of a jammed wheel nut.

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At the Emilia Romagna GP, it seemed the pit stop horror came back to haunt Bottas even at his new team. Bottas pitted to change into the medium from his intermediate tires. But the pit crew ran into trouble with the nut. It might be a scary moment for the former Mercedes driver, who might have a flashback of the 2021 Monaco GP. The Alfa Romeo crew eventually changed his tire, but it cost him a lot of time.

George Russell with flap problem in Imola GP

Mercedes is having the worst weekend this season in Imola. After Hamilton’s near-collision with Ocon in the pit lane. The German constructor again ran into another pit lane incident with their other driver, George Russell.

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During Russell’s pit stop, the Mercedes pit crew failed to adjust the front wing of Russell’s W-13. So, the Briton has to drive with a lot of understeer throughout the race. Undoubtedly, the pit lane drama made the Emilia Romagna GP more thrilling to watch. Now, F1 fans are looking forward to the next race, the inaugural Miami GP.