The race, held in wet conditions, was the second round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship, and the second Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Hamilton managed to recover from a minor crash to take second place for the Mercedes team, just ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris.

[6] The DRS zone located on the main straight would be longer than the previous edition of the race, to aid overtaking.

[8] Some teams had new parts on their cars for the first European race of the year, with Ferrari and Williams using their versions of the "z-shaped" floors Mercedes and Red Bull had utilised in Bahrain.

[15] As only five drivers had set a time before Tsunoda's crash, the track was noticeably congested near the end of the session; In addition to Tsunoda, the eliminated drivers included both the Alfa Romeos of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, and both the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

[15] Pérez's teammate Max Verstappen thus qualified third, less than a tenth of a second behind Hamilton, while Charles Leclerc managed to take fourth place in the session.

[20] Behind them, Pierre Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth and sixth, while Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas experienced a torrid session; having been first in Q1, he only managed eighth in Q3.

[25][26] Sebastian Vettel had to start from the pitlane after his brakes overheated before the race, and was given a ten-second penalty when the team failed to fit his car's tyres before the five-minute deadline.

[29] During the resulting safety car, Mick Schumacher spun near the pit exit and lost his front wing, while Perez, after running into the gravel, illegally regained his position, an action which gained him a ten-second stop-go penalty.

[33] Soon after, Russell was involved in a 320 kilometres per hour (200 mph) crash with the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, at the entrance to the fast Tamburello chicane; the race was red-flagged because debris had scattered across the track.

[30] Behind him, Lando Norris overtook the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for second place, while Perez and Yuki Tsunoda spun at Villeneuve and Tamburello respectively, dropping them down to 14th and 15th.

[28] Hamilton, starting ninth after the red flag, worked his way upwards through the field, and eventually managed to pass the stubborn McLaren of Norris for second place on lap 60.