Despite missing out on important data in FP2, Norris and Ricciardo finished fifth and sixth in the Sprint, respectively, behind the Red Bulls and Ferraris.
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After taking P5 and P6 in the Imola F1 Sprint, Daniel Ricciardo has backed his McLaren team to find even more pace in Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Ricciardo was unable to complete any laps in FP2 due to a power unit issue, while teammate Lando Norris was limited to only six laps in the morning session due to a brake issue. Despite missing out on important data in FP2, Norris and Ricciardo finished fifth and sixth in the Sprint, respectively, behind the Red Bulls and Ferraris. While pleased with the outcome, Ricciardo believes the team can improve tomorrow.
“It’s definitely like the ‘on paper’ result is really good. This morning is all about race prep and we obviously didn’t get it,” said Ricciardo. “I’ve done over 200 races so it’s not like I’m not prepared to race but knowing what tyre to start on, where to set things like the front wing and the switches in the car and all these little things, this is certainly valuable, especially in a Sprint race, where you don’t have a pit stop or anything. These are things that obviously compromise you.”
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“If we did the race again now, I would definitely change some things but with all that being said, you see ahead of us it’s Red Bull and Ferrari, so actually the result was good, I just think we will be a faster car tomorrow,” the McLaren driver added.
Max Verstappen won the first Sprint of 2022, passing Charles Leclerc with two laps to go and securing pole position for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday. The grid for this Sprint was set in the wet qualifying session on Friday, with Verstappen taking pole over Leclerc and Lando Norris leading Kevin Magnussen off the second row. The top eight, rather than the top three, now receive points in a redesigned format, providing even more motivation to give it their all on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
As the lights went out, it was Leclerc who took the lead from Verstappen, much to the delight of the tifosi – only for the Safety Car to intervene when Zhou Guanyu (DNF) and Pierre Gasly (P19) collided through Turn 9 on Lap 1. On Lap 5, green-flag racing would resume, with Leclerc leading Verstappen and Norris.
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With Verstappen in tow, the championship leader skated away. Throughout the race, the Dutchman loomed in Leclerc’s mirrors and was in DRS range with a few laps to go, stalking the Ferrari and making his move for the lead with two laps to go – sliding by into Tamburello. Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, finished third, having gained three positions in the first ten laps and pried P3 away from Norris on Lap 11 with DRS.
