Ferrari will have to deserve its party. Impressive since the start of the season, the Scuderia landed in Imola, 100 km from their stronghold of Maranello, with almost full confidence. Sure of its strength, guided by Charles Leclerc, irreproachable during the first three Grands Prix, the Italian team intended to offer a double to its tifosi. But Friday’s qualifying didn’t quite go to plan. Even more worrying for her: neither is the sprint race.Grand Prix of Emilia-RomagnaA new duel and Verstappen surprises Leclerc3 HOURS AGOThe 21 laps contested this Saturday afternoon showed that the margin of the Scuderia has been reduced, without it being known yet whether this observation is cyclical or whether it denotes a trend for the coming weeks. Max Verstappen’s sprint victory tilts the balance towards the second option instead. But that’s not all. Afterwards, the leader of the World could not hide a small part of concern. Because if he seemed rolled in a wheelchair for 17 or 18 laps after taking the advantage at the start, this was actually not the case. “I tried to push at the beginning to create a gap with Max and get out of the DRS zone, so as not to be vulnerable, he confided in a press conference. But I paid the price a little later , I had ‘graining’ and I suffered in the last laps.”Ferrari is fighting against Red Bull, Red Bull is fighting against itselfIf the premature wear of the Monegasque’s front-right tire is indeed linked to its strategy attack – which has yet to be proven, since Carlos Sainz would have suffered less – the Scuderia may fear that its operating window is much narrower than that of the rival team. Max Verstappen did not encounter a similar phenomenon and Sergio Pérez also got considerably closer to Leclerc at the end of the sprint. “Today everything went well for us with this type of tyre, the Dutchman said after the race. In the end, I was able to finish a clean sprint and I’m happy with it.” Finally, Red Bull still seems to be fighting against itself, more than against its rival: the gearbox synchronization problem suffered by Verstappen when the lights went out, which is not new this season, could have had more important consequences if Lando Norris (McLaren) had managed to take advantage of it. We must find something to stand up to them In terms of reliability, the Austrian firm has much less certainty than the Scuderia. But just from a performance standpoint, Red Bull may have taken another step forward. Before the start of the weekend, Christian Horner and his board had nevertheless minimized the benefit of the new parts brought to Imola. But the RB18, already much less affected by the porpoise virus epidemic than the Rossa, would have already shed excess pounds according to clues disseminated by Helmut Marko. Six years older than Vettel but a huge appetite: “Alonso has more than never grinta” “I think our pace is quite similar to that of Red Bull,” said Leclerc, who will therefore start from 2nd on the grid on Sunday. Carlos Sainz, overtaken by Sergio Pérez, is a little more pessimistic. “We have to find something to stand up to them, he admitted to the microphone of DAZN. There could be rain during the race, which could change some things. But if not, we have to see if we can correct this deficit on Red Bull.”Grand Prix of Emilia-RomagnaLibres 2: Russell best time, small thinning for Mercedes6 HOURS AGOEmilia-Romagna Grand PrixSlimming diet: F1 in full weight war20 HOURS AGO