Imola GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen ruins Ferrari’s HOMECOMING party – Max Verstappen took pole position for Red Bull and spoiled Ferrari’s ideal homecoming in a nail-biting qualifying session ahead of the F1 Sprint of 2022 at Imola. Charles Leclerc took P2 after being hampered by a late red flag, while Lando Norris managed P3 on the grid for McLaren. Follow Imola GP Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
A qualifying session that has been hampered by lots of red flags and other such incidents saw Red Bull’s Max Verstappen take the first pole of the F1 2022 season. In what has been a relatively difficult season for the defending champion, Max will eye the 8 precious points that the winner of the sprint race will get. It has been a sad day for the Mercedes pair of Hamilton and Russell who missed out on Q3.
After Leclerc topped FP1 the rain subsided and the field emerged on soft tyres for Q1, in which he again set the fastest time to go half a second ahead of Verstappen. Q2 saw a greater threat of rain, Verstappen topping those timesheets before Sainz crashed from P2 – and then the clouds unleashed.
Imola GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen ruins Ferrari’s HOMECOMING party, takes pole for Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc 2nd, Lando Norris third – Check Emilia-Romagna GP Qualifying Highlights
Intermediates would have to be donned for the final shootout and it was there that Verstappen set the early benchmark of 1m 27.999s – just as Valtteri Bottas crashed to bring out the fourth red flag of the afternoon with three minutes remaining.
In the FP1 session, Charles Leclerc again topped the charts after setting a lap time of 1m.29.402s. He was followed by his teammate Carlos Sainz in the second position as he set a last time of 1m.30.279s. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed in the third position after setting a lap time of 1m.30.867s.
The line up for Saturday’s #F1Sprint 👀 #ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/g1ZCGESljJ
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Nearly eight-tenths off, Leclerc had one last chance to pry provisional pole away from the reigning champion but was left second and 0.799s off after the red flag. Norris took third for McLaren but slid off the track in the final seconds of Q3, while Kevin Magnussen finished a fine fourth for Haas and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top five for Alpine.
In sixth was Norris’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo while Sergio Perez could only manage P7 for Red Bull, ahead of Bottas – who was eighth before crashing his Alfa Romeo. Vettel, managing Q3 in his Aston Martin, took P9 to leave Ferrari’s Sainz in a de facto P10 after crashing out of Q2.
Mercedes missed out on Q3, with both George Russell (P11) and Lewis Hamilton (P13) in the drop zone before the rain hit in Q2. Mick Schumacher split the Silver Arrows for Haas in P12 while Zhou Guanyu was 14th, despite going P4 in Q1. That left Lance Stroll 15th for Aston Martin.
Imola GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen ruins Ferrari’s HOMECOMING party, takes pole for Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc 2nd, Lando Norris third – Check Emilia-Romagna GP Qualifying Highlights
Nicholas Latifi missed out on Q2 in P18 for Williams, behind both AlphaTauris – Yuki Tsunoda P16 and Pierre Gasly P17 – in a less-than-ideal start to their home weekend.
Esteban Ocon suffered a suspected gearbox issue and ended up 19th, while Alex Albon was eliminated from Q1 when his right-rear brake caught fire and spread debris on the track, putting the Williams a provisional P20 on the grid for the Sprint.
Russell finished 12th ahead of Mercedes alumnus Bottas, who put his Alfa Romeo 13th. Schumacher shrugged off an off-track excursion to take P14 in Q1, safely through by 0.050s.
Hamilton’s last-gap effort put him into P15, 0.004s ahead of AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda, who missed out on Q2. “How far are we off, man, that’s crazy?!” exclaimed Hamilton before learning of the 1.6s gulf between himself and P1.
Knocked out at Q1: Tsunoda, Gasly, Latifi, Ocon, Albon
Imola GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen ruins Ferrari’s HOMECOMING party, takes pole for Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc 2nd, Lando Norris third – Check Emilia-Romagna GP Qualifying Highlights
Imola GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen ruins Ferrari’s HOMECOMING party, takes pole for Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc 2nd, Lando Norris third – Check Emilia-Romagna GP Qualifying Highlights
“You will get one timed lap before the rain is coming,” said Sainz’s engineer over the radio. That set the stage for a mad dash to set a slick-tyred benchmark. The Spaniard went second, 0.197s off then-leader Verstappen, but spun and crashed going into the final left-hander.
The red flag was called with 11 minutes left, and the clouds hanging lower and lower – Russell, Schumacher, Hamilton, Zhou, and Stroll in the drop zone. The umbrellas soon unfurled, and those drivers’ fates were essentially sealed.
Imola GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen ruins Ferrari’s HOMECOMING party, takes pole for Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc 2nd, Lando Norris third – Check Emilia-Romagna GP Qualifying Highlights
Vettel sealed Aston Martin’s first Q3 appearance of 2022 in P8 (and emerged for a late intermediate run alongside Leclerc), Ricciardo and Bottas rounding out the top 10. That left the aforementioned quintet, including both Mercedes, unable to make it to Q3.
Knocked out at Q2: Russell, Schumacher, Hamilton, Zhou, Stroll
Imola GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen ruins Ferrari’s HOMECOMING party, takes pole for Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc 2nd, Lando Norris third – Check Emilia-Romagna GP Qualifying Highlights
The nine remaining drivers donned intermediates for the final segment of qualifying, the rain having ceased but the track still damp. Magnussen then brought out a red flag with nine minutes left, seemingly beaching his car at Acque Minerale to mirror Bottas’s FP1 excursion – but rescued his Haas from the gravel to soldier on to the joy of his pit crew. The rain then returned to ensure a damp finish to Friday evening.
Five minutes left and the lap times began to file in, Leclerc going top with a 1m 28.778s – Verstappen just 0.020s behind – at the first attempt. Verstappen then improved to a 1m 27.999s, just after Bottas crashed to bring out a red flag going into Turn 16. Leclerc was 0.779s behind, with enough on the clock for one more timed lap.
Imola GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen ruins Ferrari’s HOMECOMING party, takes pole for Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc 2nd, Lando Norris third – Check Emilia-Romagna GP Qualifying Highlights
Verstappen led Leclerc out but, given how difficult their out-laps seemed, it was clear that neither driver would improve. Norris would soon render this stand-off academic when he crashed out with 40 seconds left, leaving Verstappen in P1, Leclerc P2, and Norris himself third.
Magnussen took a brilliant P4 for Haas, Alonso a rapid fifth for Alpine, and Ricciardo sixth in the other McLaren – leaving Perez seventh for Red Bull and Bottas eighth after crashing his Alfa Romeo.
Vettel secured P9 for Aston Martin while Sainz starts a provisional P10 for the Sprint after his Q2 crash.
Imola GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen ruins Ferrari’s HOMECOMING party, takes pole for Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc 2nd, Lando Norris third – Check Emilia-Romagna GP Qualifying Highlights
