Red Bull dominated the race weekend in Imola, with reigning Formula One Champion Max Verstappen racking up the most points.
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Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko claims that his team’s pressure on Ferrari at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix caused the Italian team to make mistakes. Red Bull dominated the race weekend in Imola, with reigning Formula One Champion Max Verstappen racking up the most points and Sergio Perez providing solid support for both his teammate and the team. Marko stressed the significance of the result to Sky Sports, saying, “It was very important after our engine problems in Bahrain and Australia.”
“Another 1-2 – the last one was 2016 in Malaysia – so it was about time. For the morale and everything, it’s more than important. It shows that we are competitive. We just have to get the package together and then we are there. I mean, twice [Verstappen lost] 18 points. He would be easily ahead [otherwise], but there are so many races coming and the important thing is that we know we have such a strong package,” he added.
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When asked if Ferrari would respond to any new Red Bull car upgrades, Marko answered in the negative. “I don’t think so. What we also saw is that we put real pressure on them and they’re making mistakes. You could see that Leclerc span on Friday, twice. [Carlos] Sainz spun [in the race], then Leclerc again.”
“It’s quite a cute and, I would say, very sportive and friendly competition between Ferrari and us. The championship will be very exciting and hopefully it doesn’t go to the last race like last year,” the 78-year-old concluded.
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.
