Not only did his drivers achieve a 1-2 finish, but Verstappen also won the sprint race and got the fastest lap at the Grand Prix.
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Imola does see a lot of history being made and sure enough, Sunday was no different. It was the Red Bulls’ day as reigning world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez achieved an elusive 1-2 finish at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The race result gave the much-needed boost Red Bull needed in their title fight against Ferrari. The Scuderia could not deliver on home soil as Carlos Sainz retired on the first lap and Charles Leclerc could only finish P6. So for Red Bull, it was double the fun. Unbeknownst to most fans, the Milton-Keynes-based team itself wrote a little piece of history as they broke a six-year jinx to get the team’s first 1-2 since 2016.
Team principal Christian Horner was over the moon with the result. Not only did his drivers achieve a 1-2 finish, but Verstappen also won the sprint race and got the fastest lap at the Grand Prix. The Brit termed Perez and Verstappen’s performance ‘unbelievable’ and is surely looking forward to the Miami fixture next.
“It was quite a stressful race on the pit wall because of changing condition, and there’s a lot that can go wrong in those situations, but I thought both Max and Checo did an unbelievable job today,” said Horner.
“To come here, we attacked the weekend, we brought a little upgrade – a lot of people said, ‘you shouldn’t do that with only one practice session.’ We believed in ourselves, and it paid off. And I think we were unlucky in Australia a couple of weeks ago, but we came within one point of maximum points this weekend, so it’s a great fightback by the team,” he added.
“We then had the buffer to be able to cover [Ferrari], first with Checo and then with Max. And the guys chucked out an incredible stop today… just all round, not only trackside but back at Milton Keynes, back at the factory. A wonderful, wonderful team performance,” the Brit concluded.
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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.
