With little other entertainment these days, the past three weeks seem to have flown by. That's just as well, because every F1 fan can't wait to see how the battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton develops. Friday at Imola unfortunately didn't offer a preview yet, but plenty happened.

Problems for Red Bull Racingthis time round

Red Bull Racing's preseason has been pretty much flawless. Until Max Verstappen's decisive move in Bahrain, nothing had gone wrong for the team. This is very atypical of previous years and so, of course, things went wrong straight away in Imola.

In the first free practice Sergio Perez was hit by Esteban Ocon and in the second free practice Max Verstappen's drive shaft broke. It has no direct consequences for the rest of the weekend, but the Dutchman already indicated that the preparation for qualifying is not ideal due to the lost time.

Ferrari seems to be on the way back

During the winter test it didn't look good for Ferrari, but during the Bahrain Grand Prix they were one of the positive surprises. Since the desert circuit has always been a good track for the Scuderia, the question was if they would be able to continue this form. Top five finishes for both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on Friday in Imola do point in that direction.

Aston Martin can't bear to lose

One of the stories of Friday was the possible protest by Aston Martin against the new regulations of this season. These are said to be too favourable to cars with a high lean angle. Strong statements from a team that was reprimanded last year for illegally copying parts.

That they are affected by the new guidelines, seems to be true. Lance Stroll is consistently in tenth place and Sebastian Vettel is nowhere to be seen. Mercedes, whose concept they have copied for their car, on the other hand manages to put a competitive car on the track.