Max Verstappen edges past Charles Leclerc – F1 Sprint Imola

A Redbull weekend 

Max Verstappen waited for his chance and seized it as he managed to beat an in-form Charles Leclerc. Carlos Sainz climbed up from p10 to a mighty P4, where he will start tomorrow’s race. Sergio Perez too managed to claw his way to P3 as the Mercedes cars continued to struggle for pace.
Here’s all that happened at the 2022 Formula 1 Emelia Romagna Sprint Race.

MAX: “I think we were a bit better on our tyres at the end of the race. It was fast, pushing quite a bit!”#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/dJK4eTZL9E

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 23, 2022

Early Safety Car

The Ferrari fans flooded the track as the sea of red looked to boost the Italian team. And they did! Charles Leclerc got off to a great start as MaxVerstappen complained of gear sync issues as he blew his P1 position. He took P1 and almost immediately, the safety car was out.

This was caused by a collision between Pierre Gasly and the alfa Romeo of  Zhou Guanyu, Gasly suffered a puncture and zhou was slammed into the wall, and was out of the race. Racing resumed by lap 5 as the marshals got the Alfa  Romeo out of the track.

LAP 1/21

Guanyu Zhou is OUT of the race

He makes contact with Pierre Gasly #ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/LrHJNnAV0w

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 23, 2022

 

Verstappen Picks his moment

Leclerc soon built a healthy 1.4-second lead by lap 15, however, max Verstappen chased the Ferrari until the end. The Ferrari car suffered as the tyres started to wear out at the dying stages of the sprint race. Max Verstappen patiently waited and took home the win.

LAP 19/21

Verstappen is moving ever closer towards Leclerc 😅

Who’s winning this one?! 🥊#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/gjTzimyWF6

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 23, 2022

Similarly, both of their teammates too put in a brilliant drive during the sprint race. Sergio Perez climbed up from p7 to finish in P3. Carlos Sainz recovered from an early Q3 exit with a brilliant race in the sprint. He finished in P4. 

LAP 13/21

Checo makes a brilliant move past Norris for P3 in a replay shown from Lap 11! 🚀

That’s a @redbullracing 2-3 finish as it stands 👀#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/g3wcrsuFSh

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 23, 2022

Lando Norris and Daniel Riccardo managed to finish in P5 &P6 scoring valuable points for the team.
Valterri bottas put in a solid drive to finish in P7 And Kevin Magnussen dropped positions but managed to stay and win 1 valuable point for the HAAS Team. 

This is your final standing after the 2022 Imola Sprint Race

 

#F1 – Full results of the first Sprint of the 2022 season at @autodromoimola 🇮🇹 ⬇ pic.twitter.com/apA9aZqLtW

— FIA (@fia) April 23, 2022

 

The way the cars finish this race sets them up for the Main 2022 Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix that will take place tomorrow at 6:30 pm IST. While some have gained and some have lost, it will be interesting to see how the race goes on over 63  laps instead of todays 21. 

 

 

An impressive recovery by the Smooth Operator! 🔥

Well done, @Carlossainz55 💪#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/W8tvTUDXAM

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 23, 2022