F1 is Finally BACK for Race #2 and It's a Can't Lose for Red Bull This Weekend in Italy

F1 is finally back after three weeks off from the first race of the season in Bahrain. The second race of the season is in Italy for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Tomorrow morning at 9am ET on ESPN 2 we're going to get Round 2 of the Verstappen vs. Hamilton/Red Bull vs. Mercedes battle that was ELECTRIC in the first race of the season. 

Here is everything you need to know heading into this race:

The Main Story Line: Can't Lose Race for Red Bull

This was one of the best qualifying sessions in recent memory, with pole position being decided by less than .04 of a second. The grid might look familiar with Lewis Hamilton securing his 99th career pole position, but things are definitely different heading into the Grand Prix. Qualifying proved once again that the years of the Mercedes cars being light years ahead of the rest of the field are over. The Red Bull/Alpha Tauri Honda-powered cars have looked very fast all weekend with three drivers qualifying in the top five: Perez 2nd, Verstappen 3rd, Gasly 5th. RIP Yuki (not dead, just starting in last place after crashing in qualifying). 

Despite having Lewis on pole, Mercedes is going to be outnumbered heading into turn one with Bottas' Mercedes car starting in 8th. Everything is looking like this weekend will give us a taste of what we're hoping to see all season with Red Bull taking the fight to Mercedes. They need to secure maximum points with a one, two finish and make a statement. This isn't a "Must Win" for Red Bull this weekend, but it is a "Can't Lose" race. 

Where we're at right now in the season is when two high-powered offensive football teams square off and one team opened up the game with a touchdown on the first drive. Now it's time to see if the other offense can take the field and answer. It's still very early in the season, but this race will tell us a lot about whether Red Bull can seize the moment when they get opportunities like Bottas starting all the way down in eighth. Verstappen and Perez have to take control of this race at the first corner, because if they don't Hamilton can put his car in all of the right places on this track and make it impossible for the Red Bulls to pass him, which would give him his second win of the season. 

There's just one thing: Max Verstappen has an Italy problem. F1 raced three times in Italy last season and Verstappen failed to finish all three races. Two of the races were DNFs due to reliability issues with the car and the third was due to a crash. Verstappen's car had a major mechanical issue in practice this week, which makes you think… is Verstappen just cursed in Italy? We'll see what happens in the race but it's something to keep an eye on. 

This Imola track is tight and difficult to pass on, so don't be surprised if you see major chaos on the 1st lap with drivers doing everything they can to move up when they have the chance, especially Verstappen. We could easily see the bad luck continue for him with a 4th straight DNF in Italy.

We've also seen a TON of people spinning out and crashing during practice, so anything could happen in this race. That's why we created an awesome bet on the Barstool Sportsbook where you can root for the chaos: 

Any driver other than Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen to Win +250 (boosted from +195)

Team by Team Breakdown Heading into the Race

Mercedes

Mercedes needs to make the best of Bottas' disappointing 8th place qualifying with Lewis securing the win and hoping Bottas can make up a bunch of ground to maximize their points. Bottas Podium +250 is an interesting bet because the car clearly has the pace to run at the front, just depends if you trust Bottas to battle through the field to get there in one piece.

Red Bull

Perez is showing that the team finally has a second driver who can compete alongside, not behind, Verstappen. Now it comes down to whether both cars can keep it clean and maximize the opportunity. What to watch for with Red Bull is what the team does if Perez stays ahead of Verstappen. Do they prioritize Verstappen over him? Who do they give the best strategy to during the race? Going to be fireworks on the team radios all race, THIS LEAGUE at its finest. Perez +500 to win is a VERY intriguing bet. 

McLaren

This year's McLaren car is FAST and has the potential to run at the top at times with Red Bull and Mercedes. They proved it once again in qualifying with Lando Norris putting in the second fastest lap, which would have put him starting on the first row for the race. But… the lap time was deleted due to him going outside the track limits. Norris is now starting seventh behind his teammate Riccardo in sixth. Qualifying pace is one thing, now it's about whether the McLaren boys can deliver the race pace needed to beat out the rest of the midfield teams and potentially capitalize on chaos at the front with the Red Bulls fighting Hamilton.

Alpha Tauri

Red Bull's sister team is racing on their home track where they do winter testing, they know this track better than anyone. Gasly started fourth in last year's Imola race and is starting fifth this year. Gasly has serious potential in that Alpha Tauri car with the same Honda engine as the Red Bull cars, now he just needs to deliver a solid drive and score points. Rookie driver Yuki Tsunoda, who everyone including myself has fallen in love with after an incredible first race, will be starting in last place after crashing in qualifying and will need to charge through the pack to potentially get points. Will be a great storyline to follow throughout the race.

Ferrari

The Scuderia keeps proving they are turning things around from last year's disastrous car with Leclerc once again qualifying in fourth place. Leclerc is one of the best drivers in F1 at maximizing the full potential of a car in qualifying, but does the car have the race pace to hold onto these high qualifying spots? They weren't able to in the first race of the season with Leclerc sliding back to seventh. This race will tell us if that's going to be the norm all season. Also, very tough day for Sainz getting knocked out in Q2, starting 11th in the race while his teammate is up in fourth. Will be interesting to see if he can make up some spots and score points for the team in what's going to be a tight midfield battle all season.

Aston Martin (formerly Racing Point)

At the start of last year's season, everyone was talking about Racing Point and how fast they were, this year is a different story. Stroll made Q3 but finished in 10th. The former 4x World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, qualified 13th. We'll see if the car is able to perform better in the race and they're able to score more than the one point they got in the first race from Stroll's 10th place. They need a strong showing to keep pace in this midfield battle, but it's not looking like things are going their way right now. Vettel desperately needs a good race after a string of bad results dating back to last season with Ferrari.

Alpine (formerly Renault)

Another team that in many people's eyes is somewhat underperforming and needs a strong race to stay in the midfield battle. Ocon had a good qualifying session, starting tomorrow ninth, but the former 2x-World Champion Alonso had a rough showing and is starting tomorrow in 15th. The big question is: can Ocon compete in that McLaren, Ferrari, Alpha Tauri pack or will he slide back? I'm not high on Alpine right now, but ready to be proven wrong tomorrow. We'll see what Ocon and Alonso can do in what should be a faster car than race one with a new upgrade package for tomorrow.

Williams

It was a shocking qualifying session for the Williams team with Latifi out qualifying Russel in Q1 for the first time in two seasons. Both drivers made it to Q2 and are starting 12th and 14th tomorrow. The new Williams leadership looks like they are turning the corner from being the worst car on the grid the last few seasons to being more competitive. The team might have a chance of scoring points in the race if chaos ensues, but will overall be a fascinating team to keep an eye on over the next few races to see if they can keep making improvements.

Alfa Romeo

VERY disappointing qualifying day for Kimi, starting 16th, and Giovinazzi, starting 17th. Alfa Romeo's car is one of the most improved this season, but qualifying sessions like this make you doubt if they've actually taken a step forward out of the back-marker's territory. They could potentially capitalize on chaos between the midfield teams to sneak into the top 10, but I wouldn't hold out hope. Just like Alpine, happy to be proven wrong, but the jury is still out on Alfa Romeo. 

Haas

This car is slow and is going to be running in last place all race. The only reason to think about Haas this weekend is to see if Mazepan will crash again on the first lap. Personally, I am responsibly hammering "Mazepan first driver to retire" on the Barstool Sportsbook at +300. Not going to miss out on that bet like last race.

That's everything you need to know heading into race #2. There are a ton of great bets on the Sportsbook including head-to-head matchups, podium bets, and other fun props. 

The Barstool F1 Hype Circle continues to grow by the day, join the movement with us and let's watch another incredible race together. Drop your official race predictions here 

Finally… LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, 9 am ET, ESPN 2.