The last F1 race

The tears and emotion of Nadia Padovani, at the top of the Gresini team after the death of her husband Fausto, are worth like the champagne that celebrated the third victory of Enea Bastianini, the hero of Le Mans. Perhaps unexpected, because everyone expected a duel between Bagnaia, the favorite with the record pole position, and Quartararo, designated by an irresistible race pace on paper. Instead it was the Romagna rider who cleared the field: he started from the second row with the fifth fastest time, got the start right, got behind Miller and Bagnaia immediately in the lead, while Quartararo remained entangled in the group. On the pace Bastianini had shown that he was in place right from the tests, he knows how to manage the tires well, he once again showed coldness and clarity, as well as a hint of malice (“when I saw Bagnaia at the limit I tried to make him nervous”). He got close to Miller, overtook him on lap 12, and immediately put Bagnaia in his sights. He ate the few tenths that separated him from the official Ducati rider, made him feel his breath on his neck and then put it on the twenty-first lap. Bagnaia responded with authority, but then went a long way opening the door to Bastianini. A few corners later Pecco crashed, throwing a golden opportunity into the gravel, because even a second place would have allowed him to recover points in the standings in Quartararo, meanwhile kept at bay by a tough Aleix Espargaró. The Frenchman, who suffered a hard overtaking from Nakagami at the start, struggled in the uncomfortable position of pursuer. He hasn’t even once managed to overtake Aleix, impeccable on an Aprilia that no one expected to be so competitive, despite a Yamaha that once again seems to suffer in direct duels. Ducati also celebrated the third place of Miller, author of an honest race, conducted in port without difficulty and administering a soft front tire, an unusual choice, which seemed to make him lose ground. Marc Marquez got away with a sixth place that at the moment seems the maximum achievable (he started tenth), big regrets instead for the Suzuki who started well and ended up in the gravel: Mir after closing the gap on Miller with the possibility of betting to the podium. The classification is now smiling at Bastianini, who with this victory takes him to 4 points from Aleix Espargaró and 8 from Quartararo, while Bagnaia with this second zero (he had fallen in the opening race in Qatar) slips to seventh, 46 points behind.