Drivers expect overtaking to be 🍬tough, but not necessarily impossible, in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Formula 1's re♐turn to Imola.

After a 14-year hiatus since the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix, Imola will꧋ host its first F1 race in over a decade today during a condensed two-day weekend of action.

Mercedes duo Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton claimed yet another front-row lockout in a fas𝓀cinating qualifying, with Bottas prevailing to land his fourth pole position of the season by a tenth of a second over his teammate. 

Despite an exciting Saturday, Hamilton is concerned that the race could end🅘 up being something of a procession around the narrow and fast-flowing Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, something he had foreshadowed early on in the day. 

"It's definitely not goin💫g to be a great race circuit for us, being that it's so fast for us," Hamilton said after the sole 90-minute practice session. 

“I mean, it's very narrow, it's going to be very difficult for people to overtake. There will probably be no overtaking in that midfield after Turn 2 [the first part of the🧔 Tamburello chicane]. Maybe down the main straight you'll see some overtaking.”

And H🐈amilton was not alone in his bleak prediction abouꦆt a possible lack of action on Sunday.

“It’s goin♛g to be hard to overtake,” agreed ꦬHaas driver Kevin Magnussen, who qualified down in 17th.

“It can be too hard to overtake of course – Monaco and Singapore, they’re often not very exciting races because of that. But I don’t think it’s as ꦇbad as that here.”

On the last two visits to Imola in 2006 and 2005, F1 fans were treated to some classic ꧂lights-to-flag dꦅuels for the lead involving Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso, though there was a lack of swashbuckling exchanges of position between F1’s two heavyweights of the mid-noughties. 

Overtaking has always been renowned as being difficult at Imola due to the high speed corners and width of the track, but changes🀅 to the circuit since F1’s last 💯race could help the cause.

The removal of t💞he former final chicane has significantly extended the main straight, meaning there is a longer ܫrun down to the first official braking zone at Tamburello chicane. 

Unlike in 2006, there will also be a DRS zone along the start-finish straight, something which should help the driv🦹ers in their quest to p🌄ull off some manoeuvres down into Turn 2. 

Despite similar concerns about a lack of action at the Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello, a single DRS activation point along the straight proveꦇd more than enough to aid plenty of passes. 

“It is quite a long, long, straight,” McLa๊ren’s Lando Norris noted. 

“We don’t know 100% what the ♏racing is going to be like, how easy it’s going to be to overtake.

“I don’t think it’s going to be maybe as unpredictable or as exciting as what it was in Portugal last weekend, just because it’s a bit more normal this weekend with how🦩 the tyres are working ⛦on the Tarmac and the wind and everything.

“Turn one on Lap 1 is our best opportunity. A✱nd turn one is the best opportunity on every other lap as well.”

Besides the start, Hamilton concluded after qualifying that there will be limited opportunities for him to make up for narrowly being beaten toღ pole by Bottas. 

“It’s perhaps a little bit like Monaco in that sens♐e,” he explained. “I think there’s strat♓egy as well. There are usually only a couple of options. 

“It won’t be as good as the last race꧟ in terms of the op🌃portunities to overtake, places that you can follow. But, as I said, maybe we’ll be surprised.

“Nonetheless I’m going to give it everything I’ve got an🅷d fing🦩ers crossed.”

And 🏅Bottas is fully aware of the importance of the start, having only managed to convert five of his previous 14 career pole positions into victory. 

Bottas could p🌠otentially be disadvantaged by a lack of rubber put down on the side of the grid that houses pole position, with the majority of drivers opting to run close to the pit wall in order to take the short🐷est route to the line throughout practice and qualifying. 

Nevertheless, the Finn is feeling confident about his chances of recording a third victory of the season to claw back some of his 77-poiꩵnt deficit to Hamilton in the championship. 

Bottas knows he will have a fi༺ght on his hands to earn the win and might have to withstand some intense race-long pressure. 

“It’s going to be a good fight,” he said.

“It’s one of the longest runs on the calendar into Turn 1, so no dꦯoubt Lewis and Max will be chasing me but it’s a good place to start and hopefully the pace is good. So it’s game on.”

Red Bull was left encouraged by its long run performance and Max Verstappen is hopeful that will h🥃elp him get closer to the Mercedes duo and be in a position to challenge on Sunday. 

Verstappen will line up third on the grid and felt that some of his 0.5s gap tജo pole in qualifying had been exacerbated by a “messy” Q2 that was disrupted by encountering engine trouble.

“[The] long run was alright, so hopefully we’ll be a bit simﷺilar tomorrow,” Verstappen said when asked if he was hopefuꦿl of fighting for the win. 

“Let’s hope that, top-speꦦed-wise, we’re in a good position. I don’t think it’s going to be very easy to pass anyway but we’ll see what we can do.”

Joining Verstappen on the second row is his former Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly, who w💯ill be one to watch when the lights go out. The Frenchman will set off from the clean side of the grid on Soft tyres, with all three cars ahead of him on Mediums. 

AlphaTauri’s pace was the surprise of the weekend as the Faenza outfit he🧸aded the midfield pack thanks to Gasly’s standout effort to secure his best qualifying result of what has been a sublime 2020 season.&nbs🐠p;

Gasly, who is already a race-winner🌌 in Italy this year, will be eyeing up another shock following his qualifying excellence. 

AlphaTaur🃏i’s long run pace in practice hinted at some superb pote🎃ntial, which will only act as further encouragement for the dark horse at Imola. 

With plenty to watch out for, we should be in store for an intriguing and potentially dramatic raceܫ.