Cloudy. Dry track. Air +13С, track +17…16С
The stands at Imola were filled to the brim. For a long time, Scuderia did not come to the home stage in favorite status and with such a lead in the championship. Tifosi dreamed of victory, Red Bull waited for the opportunity to recoup, which prevented Ferrari from extending the lead.
The stage in Imola was the first in 2022 with a sprint on Saturday. Another factor was the changeable weather. It was wet and cold on Friday, qualifying on a drying track, interrupted by red flags five times, and Verstappen took his first pole of the season.
On Saturday it turned out to be hot in the summer. At the start of the sprint, Leclerc got ahead of Max, attacked to create a hole and the tires wore out faster. In the closing laps, as the difference in tire efficiency became apparent, Verstappen caught up and overtook Charles to finish first.
Mercedes brought new items and expected to recoup, but the car failed to get up to speed – and as early as stage four of the season, Lewis Hamilton admitted he would not be able to fight for the title this year.
The main losers of the sprint were Gasly and Zhou, who collided on the first lap – the Chinese car was damaged, the rules of the closed park were violated in Alfa Romeo – and Guanyu started from the pit lane.
The front rows of the grid were divided by Red Bull and Ferrari racers. Verstappen and Leclerc started from the first, Perez and Sainz from the second. Of the third, two McLaren drivers – Norris and Riccardo.
Three hours before the start it started to rain, an hour ended, but the puddles remained. The track dried up slowly, everyone started on intermediate tires.
Verstappen kept the lead at the start. Perez and Norris were ahead of Leclerc. Ricciardo and Sainz made contact, Ferrari spun, both drivers flew into the gravel. Riccardo was able to get out, Carlos got stuck and fell out of the fight.
Mick Schumacher hit Alonso’s car and flew away, but was able to return. The safety car drove away.
.jpg "Evacuation of Carlos Sainz .'s car")
Top ten in round 2: Verstappen – Perez – Norris – Leclerc – Magnussen – Russell – Bottas – Alonso – Vettel – Tsunoda.
Ricciardo changed tires, got a set of intermediate tires and returned to the track last.
In the 5th round, a restart was announced. Verstappen kept the lead. Vettel, Tsunoda, Stroll and Hamilton were ahead of Alonso’s damaged car, which lost a fragment of the side pontoon for several laps after contacting Schumacher at the start.
On lap 7, Alonso went to the pits and retired.
On lap 8, Leclerc passed Norris for third.
Russell pressured Magnussen for several laps and on lap 13 in the chicane he took the lead. Later Kevin Bottas was ahead of it.
Top ten in round 14: Verstappen – Perez – Leclerc – Norris – Russell – Bottas – Magnussen – Vettel – Tsunoda – Stroll.
On lap 17, Ricciardo switched to slicks first, on 18th Vettel, Gasley and Albon, on 19th – Perez, Russell, Bottas, Magnussen, Tsunoda, Stroll, Hamilton, Okon, Latifi, Zhou. On lap 20, Verstappen, Leclerc and Norris switched tires.
Alpine let go of Okon’s car the moment Hamilton passed by – there was little contact – and Esteban was given a five-second penalty from the stewards. Bottas lost eight seconds in the pits due to problems with the right front wheel.
Verstappen kept the lead in the race. Leclerc pitted ahead of Perez, but Sergio immediately retook his position and overtook Charles on the track.
Top ten in round 22: Verstappen – Perez – Leclerc – Norris – Russell – Bottas – Vettel – Magnussen – Tsunoda – Stroll.
Leclerc closed the gap on Perez and tried to attack, but Sergio picked up the pace and was able to pull away.
On lap 25 Mick Schumacher crashed on the wet grass, the car reversed but he kept going, the first to give way to the circle leader.
On lap 28, Pérez went off the track, Leclerc tried to attack, but Sergio kept his position.
On lap 31, Ricciardo switched tires and switched to Hard first.
It wasn’t until lap 35 that the race directors allowed DRS to be used.
On lap 48, Tsunoda overtook Magnussen for eighth.
On lap 50, Leclerc switched tires and was given a soft kit for the last 13 laps to compete for the best lap. Charles returned fourth, behind Norris. Red Bull responded with a pit stop for Perez, who also received a Soft.
On lap 51, Leclerc passed Norris for third.
On lap 52, Verstappen switched tires – also Soft.
On lap 53 Leclerc’s car flipped over, flew off the track, lost stability on the curb, crashed into a wall, but entered the pits after getting a new front wing – and returned to the track on ninth Place.
On lap 54, Tsunoda passed Vettel for sixth.
Top ten in round 55: Verstappen – Perez – Norris – Russell – Bottas – Tsunoda – Vettel – Magnussen – Leclerc – Stroll.
On lap 56, Leclerc got ahead of Magnussen, on lap 59 Vettel and on lap 62 Tsunoda to move up to sixth.
.jpg "Max Verstappen wins the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix for his second Grand Slam of his career")
Max Verstappen won the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix with the second grand slam of his career – starting from pole, leading from start to finish, fastest lap and victory. Sergio Perez finished second – Red Bull Racing won the winning double, seriously narrowing the gap on Ferrari.
Lando Norris finished third, his first podium of the season.
For the first time in the season, Aston Martin earned points – ahead of Vettel’s eighth place and Stroll’s tenth.
In two weeks the battle will continue at the new track in Miami.
Race results
| pilot | Team | Time | Speed | Piet |
| 1. Mr Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:32:07.986 | 201,262 | 2 |
| 2. C.Perez | Red Bull | +16.527 | 200,662 | 2 |
| 3. L. Norris | McLaren | +34,834 | 200.002 | a |
| 4. D. Russell | Mercedes | +42.506 | 199,726 | a |
| 5. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +43,181 | 199.702 | a |
| 6. Sh.Lecler | Ferrari | +56.072 | 199,241 | 3 |
| 7. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +61.110 | 199,061 | a |
| 8. S. Vettel | Aston Martin | +70.892 | 198,714 | a |
| 9. K. Magnussen | hare | +75.260 | 198,559 | a |
| 10. L. Walk | Aston Martin | +1 circle | 197.733 | a |
| 11. A. Albon | Williams | +1 circle | 197.566 | a |
| 12. P. Gasly | AlphaTauri | +1 circle | 197.544 | a |
| 13. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +1 circle | 197.519 | a |
| 14. E. Okon * | alpine | +1 circle | 197,445 | a |
| 15. G. Zhou’ | Alfa Romeo | +1 circle | 197,231 | a |
| 16. N. Latifi | Williams | +1 circle | 197.137 | a |
| 17. M. Schumacher | hare | +1 circle | 196,504 | 2 |
| 18. D. Riccardo | McLaren | +1 circle | 195,845 | 3 |
* Added 5 seconds to Okon’s unsafe pit exit score
best lap: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) – 1:18.446 (lap 55, 225.281 km/h)
Reasons for leaving
| pilot | Team | circles | Cause |
| C. Sainz | Ferrari | 0 | accident |
| F. Alonso | alpine | 6 | mechanical problems |
Championship position : Individual
Championship position : Constructors’ Championship
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
