F1 Grand Prix sprint results: Verstappen wins for Imola pole

Leclerc took the lead at the start when pole-starter Verstappen suffered a terrible getaway.

But reigning champion Verstappen came back at him in the closing stages, and took the lead with two laps to go to grab the official mantle of pole position for Sunday’s grand prix.

2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix sprint race results

Cla	Driver		Laps	Time	Interval
1	Max Verstappen		21	30'39.567
2	Charles Leclerc		21	30'42.542	2.975
3	Sergio Perez		21	30'44.288	1.746
4	Carlos Sainz Jr		21	30'57.145	12.857
5	Lando Norris		21	31'04.128	6.983
6	Daniel Ricciardo		21	31'07.307	3.179
7	Valtteri Bottas		21	31'07.700	0.393
8	Kevin Magnussen		21	31'10.279	2.579
9	Fernando Alonso		21	31'11.845	1.566
10	Mick Schumacher		21	31'13.340	1.495
11	George Russell		21	31'15.851	2.511
12	Yuki Tsunoda		21	31'17.865	2.014
13	Sebastian Vettel		21	31'19.744	1.879
14	Lewis Hamilton		21	31'21.026	1.282
15	Lance Stroll		21	31'22.477	1.451
16	Esteban Ocon		21	31'23.084	0.607
17	Pierre Gasly		21	31'23.361	0.277
18	Alex Albon		21	31'28.438	5.077
19	Nicholas Latifi		21	31'31.584	3.146
	Zhou Guanyu		0
View full results

How the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix sprint unfolded

Making a slow start from pole, Verstappen was easily outdragged off the line by Leclerc, with Norris third and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – running on medium tyres – holding up the pack and getting a black and white flag for weaving on the straights.

On the opening lap, Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou crashed out after contact with Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri at Piratella, which brought out the safety car.

Leclerc led Verstappen and Norris at the restart on lap five. The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, who crashed out of qualifying, rose to seventh by passing the Alpine of Fernando Alonso on lap seven.

Leclerc stayed out of DRS range of Verstappen by pulling out a 1.5s lead. Behind them, Sergio Perez DRS-ed his way past Magnussen for fourth on lap eight and Norris for third on lap 11, while Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren and Sainz also passed Magnussen. Sainz then wrested fifth from Ricciardo on lap 14 and fourth from Norris on lap 19.

Going into the final five laps, Verstappen got into Leclerc’s DRS range as the Ferrari began get encounter some tyre graining. Verstappen grabbed victory on the penultimate lap, DRS-ing past Leclerc on the run to the Tamburello chicane, and then pulling away to win by almost 3s.

Perez finished third ahead of Sainz, Norris and Ricciardo. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas passed Alonso and Magnussen to take seventh, with the second Haas of Mick Schumacher rounding out the top 10.

2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix sprint race fastest laps

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	14	1'19.012			223.667
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	11	1'19.044	0.032	0.032	223.576
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	14	1'19.154	0.142	0.110	223.266
4	Carlos Sainz Jr	Ferrari	14	1'19.251	0.239	0.097	222.992
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	9	1'20.030	1.018	0.779	220.822
6	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	9	1'20.219	1.207	0.189	220.301
7	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	12	1'20.328	1.316	0.109	220.002
8	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	6	1'20.557	1.545	0.229	219.377
9	Mick Schumacher	Haas	15	1'20.567	1.555	0.010	219.350
10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	18	1'20.599	1.587	0.032	219.263
11	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	10	1'20.639	1.627	0.040	219.154
12	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	9	1'20.663	1.651	0.024	219.089
13	George Russell	Mercedes	19	1'20.756	1.744	0.093	218.836
14	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	20	1'20.909	1.897	0.153	218.423
15	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	14	1'20.948	1.936	0.039	218.317
16	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	14	1'20.995	1.983	0.047	218.191
17	Alex Albon	Williams	14	1'21.020	2.008	0.025	218.123
18	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	8	1'21.044	2.032	0.024	218.059
19	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	16	1'21.437	2.425	0.393	217.007
View full results