Verstappen wins sprint race at Emilia-Romagna GP, ahead of Leclerc

IMOLA, Italy — Red Bull driver Max Verstappen shrugged off a rough start to win the sprint race on Saturday at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna.

The reigning world champion didn’t lose his temper after being stunned by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc at the start, and he orchestrated a flawless overtake at the expense of the ‘Scuderia’ driver to reclaim the position of lead on the penultimate lap of the 21-lap race.

“Yeah, my start was very difficult. I don’t know why, maybe because I skated a little too much. I think Charles lost grip with his tires, and it worked for us today. But I don’t know for tomorrow (Sunday). I’m happy with the result today, but it will be different tomorrow,” said Verstappen.

Leclerc, who was obviously backed by the ‘tifosi’, scarlet-clad Ferrari supporters who monopolize most of the bleachers that ring the legendary Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit at Imola, ended up in second place 2.975 seconds ahead of the other Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez.

“I will start from the front row tomorrow, but we had problems with our tires towards the end of the race – we will have to understand why. We will work on this in order to bounce back tomorrow. Every time we are here in Italy, the spectators encourage us so much, it’s amazing,” said Leclerc.

Verstappen is still looking for a first classic race victory this season. Sunday, however, he will have to be wary of Leclerc, the last Ferrari driver to have brought a regular victory to the Italian team at home, in Italy. He had taken the honors of the Italian Grand Prix, at Monza, in 2019.

Moreover, the Monegasque has won two of the first three events this season, and climbed to the second step of the podium in the other.

It was the first of three races presented in the sprint format in 2022. The results of the qualifying session presented on Friday were used to determine the starting grid for the sprint race.

Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari), Lando Norris (McLaren), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) in order, also earned ranking points.

Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel ended up in 13th place, while his teammate, Quebecer Lance Stroll, settled for 15th.

Vettel and Stroll were separated by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, while teammate George Russell finished 11th. Russell had set the fastest time in the last free practice session at Imola on Saturday morning.

“We gave it our all today, but we didn’t have the pace to move up the standings. I enjoyed my battle against Lewis — he kept me busy!” exclaimed Stroll.

For his part, Torontonian Nicholas Latifi finished 19th at the wheel of his Williams.

Alfa Romeo driver Guanyu Zhou was forced to retire on the first lap following a collision with Alpha Tauri driver Pierre Gasly.

Imola returned to the calendar in 2020, after a 14-year absence. Spectators were admitted to the site for the first time in three years, due to the coronavirus pandemic. More than 120,000 tickets were sold for the weekend, organizers said.

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