Apr 24

Apr 24 Late race pace sends Max Verstappen to Imola sprint race victory

Max Verstappen will start the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in first place after a late race surge past Charles Leclerc for victory in the Imola sprint race.

Max Verstappen leads Charles Leclerc in the final stages of the Imola sprint race. *(Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)*

The Dutchman started the sprint race on pole but a poor start handed the lead to championship-leader Leclerc off the line.

Verstappen set about chasing down the Ferrari driver, catching him with two laps remaining as Leclerc's tyre life faded.

"We did well as a team and it is, of course, a positive day for us," said Verstappen.

"I didn’t have the best start, so we need to investigate what happened there, but after that we had good race pace."

"For the first 10 laps or so it seemed like the gap to Charles wasn’t really growing, but then I think at one point the tyre degradation started to kick in a bit more and I could close the gap, and I got ahead."

Verstappen claimed the first-place grid spot with victory in the Emilia Romagna sprint. *(Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)*

Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez eased his way through the field from seventh on the grid to the final step of the podium.

The one-three finish moves Red Bull into second place in the constructors' standings ahead of Mercedes.

The race was briefly interrupted when Pierre Gasly and Zhou Guanyu made contact on the opening lap, sending Zhou into the wall and out of the race.

Behind the dueling front-runners there were close battles up and down the field, with Carlos Sainz up six places while Mick Schumacher made up two places to tenth after starting on the alternate medium tyre.

Verstappen will now start in first place for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, with rival Charles Leclerc alongside on the front row.

The second row of the grid will be a replica of the first, with Red Bull's Perez ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.

"Tomorrow is a new day and there are no guarantees, but I still expect it to be very close and the battle tomorrow will be difficult," said Verstappen.

"We are very focused on what's ahead and we hope to do a good job tomorrow."

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix gets underway at 11.00pm Sunday evening AEST.

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2022 Formula One World Championship - Imola Sprint Race