Emilia Romagna GP 2022: A crash and a spin ruin Ferrari's homecoming as Red Bull reigns supreme

The Dutchman won the Sprint on Saturday and led off the line on Sunday, with teammate Perez joining him at the front.

Max Verstappen (left) with Sergio Perez. (Image: Twitter/Oracle Red Bull Racing)
By Nilavro Ghosh | Apr 25, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

As Ferrari failed to deliver on home soil, Max Verstappen won a dramatic wet-dry Emilia Romagna Grand Prix over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, with Charles Leclerc spinning late on to finish sixth after Carlos Sainz retired. The Dutchman won the Sprint on Saturday and led off the line on Sunday, with teammate Perez joining him at the front – while Leclerc dropped to fourth for a brief moment. On the first lap, the Safety Car was deployed after Daniel Ricciardo tipped Carlos Sainz into the gravel and forced him out of the race for the second consecutive Grand Prix.

On Lap 19, as the track dried, drivers began to switch from inters to mediums, with Perez coming in first, followed by Verstappen and Leclerc one lap later. The Monegasque started just ahead of Perez, but with warmer tyres, Perez skated past for P2 and then held off the Ferrari. The Red Bulls followed Leclerc’s late gamble to pit for softs from P3 and retain the lead, but Perez spun and hit the wall at Variante Alta on Lap 54, again in pursuit of the championship leader. He dropped to ninth after pitting for a new nose and softs, and only made it to P6 at the finish.

McLaren finally makes it to the podium

As a result of Sainz’s retirement and Leclerc’s off-track incident, Lando Norris was promoted twice to the final podium spot. Despite a late duel with the driver he replaced at the Silver Arrows, Mercedes’ George Russell was up seven places to P4 as the chequered flag approached, holding off Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas by less than a second.

Read More – Daniel Ricciardo news: Aussie backs McLaren’s chances at Imola after successful sprint race

Double points for Aston Martin

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda finished seventh, passing Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (P8) late in the race, while Leclerc finished ahead of the pair with his late-race heroics. Kevin Magnussen of Haas ran as high as P5 thanks to another strong start, but he eventually dropped to ninth. Lance Stroll of Aston Martin rounded out the top ten with a double-point haul for the team that started Imola with zero points.

Hamilton outside the points

Alex Albon finished 11th, ahead of Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri, who couldn’t get past despite using DRS (which was activated when the track was deemed dry enough on Lap 34). After being lapped by Verstappen on Lap 40, Lewis Hamilton finished 13th, with Esteban Ocon finishing 11th but dropping to 14th due to a five-second penalty for an unsafe release.

Read More – Lewis Hamilton news: Mercedes driver dejected after woeful Imola sprint

Following his Sprint crash, Zhou Guanyu started from the pit lane, taking P15 ahead of Williams’ Nicholas Latifi. Mick Schumacher finished 17th after spinning twice on Sunday afternoon, while Daniel Ricciardo finished last and 18th after a Lap 1 collision with Sainz, pitting for hards again midway through the race in a futile strategy. Along with Sainz, another Spaniard, Fernando Alonso, was a DNF after losing a piece of his sidepod, while Michael Schumacher crashed into the Alpine’s flanks on Lap 1.