Imola GP Sprint LIVE: Max Verstappen wins first sprint of the season – Max Verstappen won the first sprint of the season here at Imola. He will start on pole in Sunday’s race, with Charles Leclerc at P2 and Sergio Perez at P3. Follow Imola GP live updates on InsideSport.IN.
Max Verstappen started the sprint qualifying session on pole, but was overtaken by Charles Leclerc in turn 1 of the first lap itself. However, the defending world champion kept his calm and snatched the place back from the Monegasque driver at the end.
Imola GP Sprint: Max Verstappen WINS first sprint of the season with fantastic overtaking, Charles Leclerc gets P2 while Sergio Perez jumps to P3 – Follow Imola GP Sprint Live Updates
Besides Max, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was also on fire, as he jumped from P7 to P3. Carlos Sainz will be starting alongside him in the second row, with McLaren boys Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo in the third row. Mercedes will now face an uphill battle in the race, with George Russell starting P11 and Lewis Hamilton starting P14.
All smiles from @Max33Verstappen with his medal 🥰
Eight points in the bag and a P1 start for Sunday’s Grand Prix! 🙌#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/BiG5QdBvxz
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 23, 2022
#F1 – Full results of the first Sprint of the 2022 season at @autodromoimola 🇮🇹 ⬇ pic.twitter.com/apA9aZqLtW
— FIA (@fia) April 23, 2022
Imola GP Sprint Qualifying Highlights:
- CHEQUERED FLAG! So, that’s all for today. Max Verstappen will start Sunday’s race on pole with Charles Leclerc alongside him. In the second row, Sergio Perez will be in P3 and Charles Leclerc in P4.
- FANTASTIC! Max Verstappen snatches back pole position as he overtakes Charles Leclerc into Tamburello with a brilliant move.
- Bottas moves up to P9 as he overtakes Fernando Alonso with a fantastic move.
- The apprentice beats the master – Haas driven Mick Schumacher goes past Sebastian Vettel. He is now in P10.
- Right on cue. After Magnussen, Sainz finds another victim in Daniel Ricciardo as he moves up to P4.
- Yet another Ferrari driver doing a fine job – Carlos Sainz overtakes Magnussen and is now P5, just behind Ricciardo.
- Sergio Perez is on the prowl – he now gets past Lando Norris to take P3. On the other hand, Norris’ McLaren teammate overtakes Kevin Magnussen to take P4.
- Two more overtakes – Red Bull’s Sergio Perez gets past Haas’ Kevin Magnussen to take P4, while Alfa Romeo’s Valterri Bottas snatches P9 from Sebastian Vettel.
- Classic overtaking from Carlos Sainz as he takes P7 from fellow Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso.
- GREEN FLAG! We are racing once again. Leclerc maintains his lead over Verstappen.
- Safety Car is coming in now.
- SAFETY CAR! The Aston Martin safety car has been called upon after Zhou Guanyu’s big crash following a collision with Pierre Gasly.
- LIGHTS OUT! What a fantastic start for Charles Leclerc. He leads in Turn 1 with Max Verstappen slipping down to P2.
- Formation lap begins.
- It is almost here – the first sprint of the 2022 season. The weather is cloudy but rain has stayed away throughout the day.
F1 2022 Sprint Qualifying Points Distribution:
P1 – 8 points – Max Verstappen
P2 – 7 points – Charles Leclerc
P3 – 6 points – Sergio Perez
P4 – 5 points – Carlos Sainz
P5 – 4 points – Lando Norris
P6 – 3 points – Daniel Ricciardo
P7 – 2 points – Valterri Bottas
P8 – 1 point – Kevin Magnussen
Your Top 8 point-scorers from #F1Sprint! 💫#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ycoUVrkbMz
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 23, 2022
Imola GP Sprint: Max Verstappen WINS first sprint of the season with fantastic overtaking, Charles Leclerc gets P2 while Sergio Perez jumps to P3 – Follow Imola GP Sprint Live Updates
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