Formula 1
GREAT START FOR LECLERC BUT MAX POUNCES WITH A FEW LAPS TO GO AND WINS THE IMOLA SPRINT RACE.
Leclerc held a narrow lead throughout most of today’s 21-lap sprint qualifying race at Imola, pulling away to a gap of about two seconds after an early safety car. Verstappen started to reel him in over the final ten laps, and with four to go was right on the leader’s rear wing. He made his DRS-assisted move on the outside with two to go, cleared Leclerc, and never looked back. That’s pole for tomorrow, eight championship points, and one point gained over Leclerc.
IMOLA, ITALY – APRIL 22: Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Third placed qualifier Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren talk in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on April 22, 2022 in Imola, Italy. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.
Behind the leaders, Sergio Perez comfortably beat out Carlos Sainz Jr. to secure third for Red Bull. The greatly-improved McLarens of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo slot in fifth and sixth after falling down the order in the race, then Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) round out the point-scoring top eight. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will both start outside of the top ten after what has been a notably disappointing race weekend for Mercedes even by the team’s currently-lowered standards, but the pair will have an entire race tomorrow to make up spots on the grid after looking uncompetitive today.
MAX VERSTAPPEN, Finish Position: 1st, Start Position: 1st, (Practice 2 – P7, 1:20.371): “We did well as a team and it is of course a positive day for us. I didn’t have the best start so we need to investigate what happened there but after that we had good race pace. Initially for the first 10 laps or so it seemed like the gap to Charles wasn’t really growing but then I think at one point the tyre degradation started to kick in a bit more and I could close the gap and I got ahead. Tomorrow is a new day and there are no guarantees, I still expect it to be very close and I the battle tomorrow will be difficult. We are very focused on what is ahead and we hope to do a good job tomorrow.”