F1 sprint race

World champion will start P1 on Sunday and claimed championship eight points, while Lewis Hamilton struggled with his Mercedes and will begin in 14th.

With the victory Verstappen has secured pole for Sunday a potentially vital achievement at Imola where overtaking is difficult. It was a bravura move, perfectly executed and the sort of racing the sprint race has long needed. He was third several laps later, an impressive run and vital for Red Bull so he can play his part in the race tomorrow. Max Verstappen won the sprint race for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola and in doing so secured pole for Sunday’s race. Out front however while Leclerc was in control, Verstappen closed in the final four laps to within a second. Both Hamilton and Russell struggled to make any headway through the field, unsurprisingly with a tricky can on a track where overtaking is far from easy.

Leclerc, struggling with tyre wear, came home second ahead of Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari and Lando Norris of McLaren ...

On Lando’s side, we experienced a brake system issue when he did his first run,” McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl told Sky Sports of the problem. This collision prompted a Safety Car intervention while the debris was cleared. “I had a very bad start with too much wheel spin,” said Verstappen. “I had to stay calm. By lap 11, Leclerc led by 1.4 seconds with Perez charging through to third, six seconds adrift, Norris fourth and a charging Ricciardo up to fifth ahead of Sainz, also on a charge for Ferrari, and Magnussen. Mercedes struggled again despite an improved showing in second practice. “I pushed hard at the beginning to try and not be too vulnerable with Max having the DRS behind, and I feel like I’ve paid the price of doing that at the end of the race,” he said.

Max Verstappen said the Emilia Romagna Formula 1 sprint turned into a 'waiting game' for him once it became clear race leader Charles Leclerc was suffering ...

But yeah, clearly, we had a bit more pace at the end of the race." "My start was just terrible. "Of course with these cars, it is better to follow.

Max Verstappen takes advantage of Charles Leclerc's late tyre worries to take the sprint race at the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix — as another poor day on ...

That's all we can hope for right now." "We were a bit better on our tyres at the end of the race so I could get into DRS [drag reduction system] and we had a good fight into turn two." Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen won a sprint race for pole position at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Saturday as Ferrari's Charles Leclerc stretched his overall championship lead to 40 points.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen looks to cut the points deficit to championship leader Charles Leclerc in Italy, with The Sporting News providing ...

He will hope to have an easier time of it today and retain the lead from pole at the start, but he knows at least he is a match for his title rival at Imola. 75 mins to lights out: Just as on Friday it its wet at Imola. There has been a lot of rain around in the last hour or so and conditions are treacherous to say the least. Charles Leclerc came to Imola having won two of the first three races of the season and the championship leader will hope he can bring further joy to his Italian employers today. The seven-time world champion has had a miserable 2022 so far and it hasn't got any better at Imola where he was only 14th in the Sprint on Saturday. 20 mins to lights out: This is an exciting era of F1 racing with three great races to start the 2022 season. Being on the right compound for the conditions at the correct time will be critical and could well define the outcome of the afternoon's proceedings. 10 mins to lights out: It has dried out quite quickly, at least on the starting grid, ahead of the race start. "Too risky" he says when the conversation on the pit radio comes up on whether to go on slicks yet. Red Bull have control of the race with Verstappen ahead of Perez. Leclerc immediately trying to pressurise Norris to get up to third and try and chase the front two. Lap 32: We are past halfway and Verstappen is 10 seconds ahead of Red Bull teammate Perez. Leclerc right behind the Mexican, with Norris fourth in his McLaren a further 14 seconds off the pace. Time and again the Mercedes gets right under the wing of the AlphaTauri into Turn 1, but with Gasly getting DRS from the Williams of Albon ahead he does not have the grunt to get through. Charles Leclerc had been on course for third but the championship leader spun off late in proceedings as he chased Perez for second.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen overthrew polesitter Charles Leclerc late on to win the first sprint race of the 2022 Formula 1 season at the Emilia Romagna Grand ...

And Perez kept putting the slipstream out of the final corner for the run into the chicane to good use as he then copied the manoeuvre on Norris with the help of DRS to climb to third. Leclerc had not made an error, as Verstappen brought the gap below a second and then used DRS and the slipstream out of the final corner to bring the difference down to half a second. Leclerc gave his rival space at the first apex, and Verstappen kept within the painted lines to make the move stick before romping to a 1.5s lead before sealing the win by 2.9s. Leclerc settled a little over the 1s threshold for three tours and then on lap seven, set what was at the time the fastest lap of the race to stretch his cushion to 1.5s over the RB18. With the aid of DRS and as his Ferrari rival battled oversteer, Verstappen dived around the outside into Tamburello and kept his car on track to take the win and pole for the full GP on Sunday. Leclerc had nailed his launch and with the kink on the main straight placing him on the inside, he could sprint past a wheel-spinning Verstappen to seize first into Tamburello.