Max Verstappen has ruined the tifosi party at Imola. With Ferrari dominating the start of the season, the Dutch driver triumphed on home soil in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday April 24, after winning the sprint race on Saturday. The Red Bull team even achieved the double since Sergio Perez climbed on the second step of the podium, ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren).
The leader of the world championship, Charles Leclerc, made a mistake at the end of the race and failed in 6th place. The Ferrari driver nevertheless remains at the top of the driver standings but Max Verstappen performs a fine operation by pocketing 34 points in Italy.
An abandonment on the first lap and an exit from the track which cost Ferrari the podium: at Imola, the tifosi have something to do in a gloomy mood. The afternoon had already started badly, from the start, with the very bad start of Charles Leclerc, demoted to 4th position, then the collision between Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo, leading to the abandonment of the Spaniard. Meanwhile, at the front, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, starting from pole position, was already taking off.
With extraordinary pace, the reigning world champion quickly became untouchable, leading the race, and Charles Leclerc, back in third position, had to focus on the battle for second place with Sergio Perez. But the Red Bull driver was able to take advantage of the pit lane game to maintain his position with warmer tires than those of the Monegasque. In ambush, Leclerc then tried everything to get back up to the Mexican, but too greedy, he made a mistake less than ten laps from the finish and finally finished 6th. Lando Norris therefore took the opportunity to get on the podium.
When the first three of the#ImolaGP review Charles Leclerc’s mistake in the cool room…
https://t.co/7plkVVV12v pic.twitter.com/qCtzhCxMBY
— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) April 24, 2022
At the foot of the podium, George Russell and his Mercedes crossed the finish line in 4th position, well ahead of Lewis Hamilton, out of the points, in 13th place. The seven-time world champion, struggling on Sunday, never managed to overtake Pierre Gasly in an anonymous battle far from the peaks. Symbol of the lack of pace of the Mercedes at the start of the season: the Briton had to let Max Verstappen pass, who already had a lap lead, from the 41st lap of the Grand Prix. An affront, almost a humiliation for Hamilton.
As for the Dutchman, he had the perfect weekend by winning the maximum possible points, with 8 units pocketed in the sprint, 25 in the race and a final one for the fastest lap in the race.