MAX VERSTAPPEN 'SPRINTS' TO VICTORY!
Max Verstappen wins at the home of the Tifosi !! The sprint race is perfect for the RB18s meant for pure performance and only for 21 laps. Ferrari can be really content with their performance after bagging the second and fourth spot following Sainz’s remarkable recovery, allowing them to challenge the Red Bulls tomorrow.
(Max Verstappen wins the first Sprint Race of 2022 at Imola)
(VER overtakes LEC in the final stages, making him the first-ever driver to regain the lead of a sprint race)
(The podium at the 2022 Emilia-Romagna GP Sprint. VER-P1 LEC-P2 PER-P3)
The McLarens of Norris and Ricciardo had a stellar sprint session, possibly holding the best places possible in that McLaren. Gotta feel for KMag, though, who dropped down to eighth, which still is a mighty respectable spot for the Haas, along with mick bagging the 10th place, making it his best quali in F1 so far.
(Go Lando!)
(Magnussen laments medium tyre choice for Imola sprint)
Mercedes indeed look as though they are in a cleft stick after only having one car in the top 10, making us wonder whether they’ll even be challenging the likes of Alfa Romeo. The latter, with Bottas, seem to have bolted down the formula to a good qualifying position. Still, it’s not all smiles in the Alfa Romeo garage after Zhou packed his bags for a quick exit after colliding with Pierre Gasly’s right front. This led to Pierre Gasly having an underwhelming Sprint Session and will start P17 on the grid tomorrow.
(Valtteri Bottas Picks Up Imola Sprint Points)
(Zhou crashes out early after colliding with Gasly's front right)
Williams is not having a weekend as satisfactory as the previous ones after locking out the last two places on the grid, making their chances of a points finish look quite slim. It will be pretty interesting to see how things play out if King Latifi continues to perform with this level of incredible consistency.
(Alex Albon was one of few to opt for the Medium tyres)
While Alpha Tauri’s leading man Gasly did not have an excellent sprint session, his counterpart Yuki had a decent sprint, qualifying in 12th place.
The forecast for tomorrow looks quite gloomy. We’re probably going to have a wet race, but with the possibility of using slicks for a while. Nevertheless, the race tomorrow promises to be an exciting one. Will it be Max who disappoints the Tifosi, or will we see a repeat of Monza 2019?