#1061 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

The 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Rolex Gran Premio del Made in Italy e dell'Emilia-Romagna 2022) is a Formula One motor race held on Sunday, April 24, 2022, at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. It is the first Grand Prix weekend of the 2022 season to utilize the Formula One Sprint Racing format. The race is won by Max Verstappen, ahead of Sergio Pérez and Lando Norris, who place second and third, respectively. It is Red Bull Racing's first 1–2 finish since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix, as well as Verstappen's second career grand slam, having started in pole position after winning the sprint race from first position on Saturday, and set the fastest lap while leading every lap of the race he wins on Sunday. Championship leader Charles Leclerc finishes sixth, while his teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. retires on lap 1 after a collision with Daniel Ricciardo at turn 1. This is the only race in the 2022 season where a driver outside one of the top three constructors achieves a podium. On April 22, 2022, the FIA publishes the guidelines, valid starting from the first race of the season in Bahrain, that all drivers must follow when overtaking to avoid being investigated by the stewards. In the case of overtakes both inside and outside, for a car that is about to be overtaken to give enough space to the car attempting the pass, the overtaking car must have a significant portion of its side alongside the car being overtaken. These guidelines also apply to overtakes in chicanes and S-curves. Before the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, at Maranello, on April 21, 2022, Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that it has extended its agreement with Carlos Sainz Jr.. The Spaniard driver, who made his debut with the Maranello squad in the 2021 season, will thus be part of the team to the end of 2024.

"I am delighted to have renewed my contract with Scuderia Ferrari. I have always said that there is no better Formula 1 team to race for and after over a year with them, I can confirm that all my expectations have been exceeded. Putting on this race suit and representing this team is a great honour for me and I really look forward to keep enjoying our journey together. My first season at Maranello was solid and constructive, with the whole group progressing together and the result of all that work has been clear to see so far season. I feel confident and hugely motivated after this renewal as it shows the trust in me and now I can’t wait to get in the car, to do my best for Ferrari and to give its fans plenty to cheer about. When I joined the team in 2021 the goal was to help Ferrari get back to the winning ways and to fight for both Championships. Now, the F1-75 is proving to be a front-runner, which truly allows me to chase those goals. I have said several times that I believe we have the best driver pairing in Formula 1 and so, with every passing race, it seemed a completely natural step to extend Carlos’ contract, thus ensuring stability and continuity. In his time so far with the team, he has proved to have the talent we expected from him, delivering impressive results and making the most of all opportunities. Outside the car, he is a hard worker with an eye for the smallest detail, which has helped the whole group to improve and progress. Together, we can aim for ambitious targets and I’m sure that, along with Charles, he can play a significant part in fuelling the Ferrari legend and will write new chapters in the history of our team".

Mattia Binotto, Team Principal & Managing Director of Scuderia Ferrari, adds:

"I am also aware that I am not solely responsible for successes or failures. We are a team and I feel like one of many elements. We have all reacted together, we have always remained united. And that gave me the push, we had the skills to be competitive. We had already proven it in 2017 and 2018 and we have grown since then. But I also knew that we would have to go through two seasons of sacrifice before we took the redemption opportunity of the new rules. We now have tools that are predictive and able to quickly identify a problem and its cause. They will be critical to developments as well. I feel the trust of John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna, otherwise I would not be here. I have a relationship of trust and transparency with them. The constructors' championship represents the solidity of a team. To be clear: a drivers' title would be extraordinary, but I think our objective goes beyond that. I see hunger, not just the desire to win a single GP or a title. Much more. We want to bring Ferrari back to being a model for F1, for the adversaries. Representing a model, this means Essere Ferrari, feeding the myth of Ferrari being a reference in every field".

Sainz Jr. adds details about the agreement reached with the Maranello-based factory, already established during the winter:

"To be honest, it was easy for both parties after such a good first year as we had. Having the opportunity to make the announcement in a place like Imola, in front of the fans and on a weekend like this, I think it was ideal. Anyway, it's no secret that it's important for a driver to have his mind completely focused on performance, without focusing too much on what the future holds. Since I discovered this aspect at McLaren, I have been very explicit about it. I already had my certainties throughout the winter, and as a result I had no worries in the first few races".

And about the Australian Grand Prix, the Spaniard driver admits:

"It was not a great weekend because there were many external factors, but you have to know how to react in the best way. Sooner or later a mistake had to happen, I was coming from I don't know how many consecutive races with points. This will make me stronger. It's better that it happened at the beginning of the season, I can learn and use the experience for the next 20 races. Ferrari is now not only the best team in F1, but also the best team to be in at the moment. We are winning so much, we have the fastest car on track in most sessions. Signing a two-year deal with the best car on the track is good. I've always felt I was in the middle of the fight and with 20 races left anything can still happen. What I do know is that I'm not missing much [to be at Charles' level]. I fought for pole in all the races. I missed maybe a tenth in Q3. I'm a little short, that keeps me motivated. Charles has done an outstanding job with this car. He's making a difference as a driver, but I don't feel far behind. I know I'm up against a very strong challenger, but even though I don't feel completely comfortable with the car yet I'm still close there. As soon as I can make that click everything will get easier easier".

The real twist of the season is undoubtedly related to the problems and difficulties that are being encountered in Mercedes. In this regard Toto Wolff states:

"Melbourne was a great weekend for Formula One, the atmosphere was incredible, and it was wonderful to be back in Australia in front of so many fans. For us, the race went better than we expected, especially after a difficult Friday. George and Lewis were both on strong form all weekend and delivered a useful haul of points for the Team. We learned a lot and really maximized the opportunities available, and that's what we need to keep doing. We know we haven 't got the pace of the Ferrari and Red Bull right now. But we're working hard to reduce their advantage, and it's been brilliant to see everyone across the factories pulling together to achieve this. There's been a lot of hard work over the Easter weekend in the factory to bring improvements to the car and get it ready to head to the next race, and that shows the team's dedication to turning the situation around. Of course, we must be realistic, it will take time to make the gains we want, but we ' re learning as much as we can from each race and finding avenues to push us forward. Now we look ahead to Imola and the first Sprint event of the season. It's an historic, old-school circuit with a challenging layout that the drivers really enjoy. Qualifying is important owing to the narrow track, while its sweeping nature really puts the cars to the test. We're looking forward to seeing how 2022 machinery tackles Imola".

There are two practice sessions, both lasting one hour. The first practice session starts at 1:30 p.m. local time on Friday, April 22, 2022. The second practice session starts at 12:30 p.m. local time on April 23, 2022. The first practice session ends with Charles Leclerc quickest ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen. The session is red-flagged twice due to the wet conditions causing spins at turn twelve by Lando Norris and later Valtteri Bottas. 

In the second practice session, George Russell sets the fastest lap ahead of Sergio Pérez and Leclerc. Qualifying takes place at 5:00 p.m. local time and is scheduled to last one hour. Unlike the 2021 season, in which the qualifying for the Formula One sprint determines the grid for Saturday and the winner of the sprint is considered the pole-sitter for the Grand Prix, the 2022 rules state that the driver setting the fastest time in qualifying is considered the pole-sitter regardless of the sprint results. The first qualifying session is red-flagged with 12 minutes left after Alexander Albon's brakes catch fire at turn 14 due to an incorrect switch setting, spewing debris all over the track. Only ten drivers have set times before the red flag, causing the track to become congested. The drivers eliminated are Albon, his Williams teammate Nicholas Latifi, the two AlphaTauri drivers, Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, and Esteban Ocon in the Alpine. The second part of qualifying is red-flagged after Carlos Sainz Jr. spins at turn 18 and collides with the outside barrier. Although his time is fast enough for him to advance to the third part of qualifying, he is not able to participate in the session due to his crash, leaving him tenth. Those eliminated are Lance Stroll, Zhou Guanyu, Mick Schumacher, and notably George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, the two Mercedes drivers, marking the first time since the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix that a Mercedes car does not make the final part of qualifying. In Q3, there are three more red flags, bringing the total in qualifying to five, a new record. First, Kevin Magnussen spins at turn 12, one of many drivers having issues at that part of the track. The second red flag in the session is called when Valtteri Bottas's Alfa Romeo has an issue causing him to pull off to the side of the track at turn 16, with only three minutes left in the session. Max Verstappen, who is on pace to set the fastest lap, has to slow down due to the yellow flags and is still able to complete the lap and beat Charles Leclerc's time by 0.7 seconds; the red flag is deployed before Leclerc is able to complete his lap. Drivers are again in a frenzy to get one more chance to improve their lap times; however, with less than a minute to go, Lando Norris spins at turn 12. This causes the session to end prematurely, leaving the drivers with no more chance to improve their lap times. Verstappen sets the fastest lap ahead of Leclerc, the championship leader, who qualifies in second. McLaren's Norris is third and Magnussen, driving for Haas, a team that did not qualify higher than 14th in 2021, is fourth, which is the team's best qualifying in its history. Verstappen's teammate Sergio Pérez manages seventh behind Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo, with Bottas, Sebastian Vettel, and Sainz occupying the rest of the top ten. At the end of the Qualifying, the World Champion Max Verstappen is happy with his team’s performance:

"It was good out there today but also very easy to make mistakes, so luckily we mainly stayed out of trouble. We started on the slicks initially and then it started raining again, making the right call on how you wanted to prep your laps was key today and ultimately we chose the right one, so I’m of course very pleased with that. When I saw the yellow flags for Valterri I immediately lifted so there won’t be any trouble there, it does cost you lap time but luckily the lap was still good enough for pole. Tomorrow looks to be dry and we haven’t really driven these new cars a lot in the dry here so hopefully in FP2 we can understand the car a bit more in different conditions".

For Sergio Perez, it was a disappointing performance:

"Overall it’s a disappointing day but we need to remember it’s just the start of the weekend. It just didn’t seem to work out for me today, we got a few things wrong. It was important to get the temperature on the tyres and we couldn’t seem to get the right out lap, we were just warming up the tyres and then we had another red flag. I am pleased with the pace of the car though, I am looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully we are able to progress through the field during the sprint and get a good start position for the race on Sunday".

Christian Horner praises Max’s performance in today’s unusual qualifying:

"Max did a super job today, it was an unusual qualifying and the one lap that turned out to count was thankfully the lap we banked and there was just too much rain for anyone to respond".

Lewis Hamilton is disappointed about today’s performance:

"Today wasn't a great session and naturally it's disappointing. We came here with optimism, everyone is working so hard at the factory but things just didn't come together. I think we underperformed as a team today. We'll work as hard as we can to move up in the Sprint Race. It's going to be a difficult race but who knows? Maybe we can move our way forwards. Each weekend is a rescue at the moment".

Sebastian Vettel is pleased with today’s performance as it was his first time in Q3 in 2022:

"I am pleased with the job we did today. It was my first time in Q3 in 2022 and the first time this year for both cars in Q2, which is a great effort by the team. It took a while to get comfortable, but by the first run of Q2 I was pretty happy. In Q3, I only had one clean lap. On the second attempt, I braked late and ran wide in Turn Two, and then it was all red flags from there. It is a shame it ended in a bit of an anticlimax, but we should be able to have a good weekend from here".

We must always believe in the work of the FIA, says Mattia Binotto about the timing of the red flags:

"We must always believe in the work of the FIA. There is a penalty if the referee blows the whistle. However, if we look at the first four red flags of yesterday, an average of 15 seconds elapsed from the incident to the display, while on that occasion almost 40 seconds elapsed. We are sorry, also thinking of Australia, where for a couple of seconds Carlos was unable to complete his lap. If the red flag had come out two seconds later in Melbourne, it could have changed his weekend. These are situations that have happened and in this case they were unfortunate for us. The group of sporting directors certainly needs to make their bones. I think that at this moment the best way for them to gain experience is to adopt a cautious approach. You also have to understand them, they are not born unlearned. On their part, there is certainly a desire to do well. I think the decision is always difficult, as it was for Masi in Abu Dhabi. In their place it is never easy nor obvious, so we have to believe in their work and try to help them when we believe that some things could have been done differently. It is a commitment that we as Ferrari have always taken. We have a good relationship with the Federation and we confront each other after every race. On the last run there was no chance to improve, everyone was slower than the previous run. Regardless of Norris, there would have been no change. From our side there is a bit of regret, because after the first lap Max continued to push, while Charles slowed down to preserve the tires for the following laps. I think that if he had pushed, he could have done better. Then you can't always guess, maybe if there wasn't the red flag he would have been right. I think that in difficult conditions like yesterday, being second on the grid is still an important base. If I look at the past seasons, we have always had difficulties in the wet, but this was not the case yesterday. Usually when a car is strong in the dry, it is also strong in the wet. If we were struggling in the rain in previous years, it's because the car wasn't even good enough in the dry".

Mattia continues and says that they are now experiencing what they have had in the past, especially during the 2020 season because the team is working well but criticisms continue to arrive because the results do not correspond to what is expected:

"Over the years I've never laughed and you couldn't laugh. I think when you're in a situation like we've been in the last two years, where you're taking criticism and not getting the results you want, you can't smile. The 2020 season was really one of suffering and when one is suffering you can't laugh. There was hope, though, because I had faith in this team, I could see that it was working well and so there was hope that we could really come back in 2022 with a competitive car. But you can only verify this when you go on track: Formula 1 is not an absolute sport that depends only on yourself, it also depends on what others do".

So he adds:

"You can be confident in your team working well, but you can't be sure about what others are doing. We have to remember what history has been. There have always been cycles. I was there in '99 and in 2000, when we didn't win the title for 21 years. Now we haven't had a title since 2007 and although it hasn't been 21 years, the situation is very similar. There are cycles that follow each other and as there were difficulties then, so now there are for us. If I look at 2017, however, it was an important year, because there had been a significant change in the regulations, with the increase in the track of the car, and the team had been able to make a very good product, able to fight at the beginning of the season with Mercedes, which until then had never had rivals. This is the same team that had been able to make that good practice in 2017. Since then we knew that we had to grow: we have progressed in experience, with a good exercise of the analyses of our limits and weaknesses and we also had shareholders who had the courage, the desire and the will to invest in these years not only in patience, but also in resources and tools necessary to grow to be able to make in 2022 the car that we see today".

On Ferrari’s team behavior he says:

"I never had any doubts about who made me do it, for two reasons. First of all, I don't think that my role is more important than that of someone else: we are a team and everyone makes his own essential contribution. I've seen a team that has remained united in the face of difficulties and this has given me the motivation to believe and move forward. It's very difficult to open a cycle, but there's no doubt on our part that there is at least the will to try".

About the three regulations, Mattia Binotto says:

"The financial regulations are new, complementing the technical and sports regulations. Today we have three regulations. The financial director is just as important as the technical one, because both have to manage a regulation. I'm not saying there are gray areas, but how one applies it is as much an element of competitiveness as the technical part. It is important to be attentive and, above all, for the FIA to make sure that everyone applies it fairly. I think the FIA has to make an extra effort on this front. It is a new regulation also for it, so when you go to make controls, the Federation must gain experience on what and how to control. From our side we try to help, because we think it is fundamental that these controls are conducted in a thorough manner. I don't want to contradict Carlos, but if we look at last year he adapted better than many riders who had changed teams, but it still took him a few races to reach his maximum level. I think that this year too it's part of his attitude to study and learn step by step, so much so that I'm convinced he'll get there very quickly. Already in Australia, regardless of the circumstances that have occurred, he was very fast and able to fight for the pole. Yesterday he also had the potential to take pole: looking at the times he did in difficult wet conditions, he was already very fast. So I think he is already adapting quickly to this race. If we ask ourselves about two races of adaptation, we are talking about nothing. Charles, on the other hand, has a natural talent of his own in being able to adapt to the track and to all conditions. This natural talent of his is emerging".

According to Binotto, it is early to see the real values of the Ferrari team, which will emerge after five or six races:

"I still think the real values will be seen after five or six races. To date we have only run three Grands Prix and to make a judgement would be hasty. I think we have to wait for Barcelona at least, because all of us, including the drivers, will have a better understanding of these cars and how to extract their potential. All of us will also bring some corrections and those who had problems at the beginning of the season will have time to correct them from here to Spain and only there I think we will have a more definitive judgment".

So he adds:

"Having said that, we're off to an encouraging start: it's not like the balance will change between now and Barcelona, but there could be some changes. We are not yet in the right place with regards to the wheel hop and it is a performance limitation, also because it takes away the drivers' confidence, and it is a potential for development. Solving the porpoising definitively would be a step forward for us, even if it is not the only one. I see it difficult for Mercedes to reach our level, because today if you look at their performance they don't have a single problem and I see them struggling a bit. They will definitely catch up: they are a strong, solid team and they won the last world titles. I'm sure that sooner or later they will correct and get back to being competitive, but for this year I see it as a difficult exercise".

Overall, what matters in these first races is to gain points, to be satisfied with the result, and to consolidate it:

"I think it is always important to think about the points and the satisfaction of the result must be a consequence. I think that in races like these at the beginning of the season, when you have a car as good as ours, the priority is to finish the race, because if it doesn't work out, you end up fourth and those are always important points. Rather than taking risks to gain a position, it's better to consolidate. I think our drivers have embraced our team concept and they know how important it is for the team to maximize the points haul. Then I always repeat it with each of them: if making one of ours win means preventing Verstappen or one of the others from doing so, it's always a good thing. Our real rivals must remain the others and must not be internal to the team. I am convinced that an order would be shared. I think the one between Charles and Max is a beautiful rivalry. If not this season, where it already exists, it will be in the next and I think that this is the beauty of this Formula 1. There is a generational change going on, with young drivers with great talent who have always fought. As a Formula 1 fan, I think it's great to experience that".

After yesterday’s qualifying, the drivers are ready for the sprint race that will finally decide the positions on the grades and will allow the first eight drivers in the sprint rank to gain more points for the race to the 2022 Championship. They have 21 laps to run 4.900 metres of the Enzo Dino Ferrari’s circuit. The drivers take the place of yesterday’s qualifying within the grid. All the drivers will use red tyres except the two Haas cars and Latifi, who both opt for the yellow medium tyre. It is time for the formation lap but something seems to go wrong for Alonso, who is not able to start. He has to cross the line before that all drivers cross it, otherwise he will have to start from the pit lane. However, he manages to make his car work and is able to take his position back. Greenlight turns on. Leclerc and Norris attack Verstappen. He does not start in a good manner and it seems he slips a little bit: 

"Lovely gear sync that".

Said the World Champion sarcastically to his radio team. Verstappen complains that the Red Bull has always had these kinds of issues and they have been dealing with these issues for two years. Leclerc manages to pass Verstappen. The Dutch resists Norris’ pressure and maintains the P2. At the acque minerali, Alonso duels with Ricciardo. Suddenly, the yellow flag starts to wave at the second sector because Zhou’s car stops at the exit of piratella’s turn near the barriers. The safety car makes his entrance on the track and it seems Alphatauri has some issues. Gasly’s car has a puncture in the front right because his car touched Zhou’s Alpha Romeo. He can’t stay there, says Gasly to his team. The safety car could be an issue for the Ferrari drive Leclerc because the Reb Bull car is 10 km/h faster than Ferrari is. Even if Max could not use the DRS, Charles will struggle a bit to resist Max’s pressure at the race restarts. Zhou is out from the sprint race so tomorrow he will start in P20. Magnussen manages not to lose his car after the touch with Ricciardo and Checo Perez.

However, there is an ongoing investigation because it seems that Magnussen and Perez waved on the straight before turn 1, while Formula 1 Regulations allows just a single change in direction. Tsunoda and Ocon have gained three positions while Perez has two. After four laps with the safety car, the sprint race restarts at lap 5. The drivers go toward the first variant and Leclerc manages to resist Verstappen. Sainz starts to push on Alonso at Tosa turn but Alonso lengthens the pace. Meanwhile, the white and black flag targets Magnussen for weaving on the straight. If he violates the rules again during the sprint race, he will be eliminated. Max maintains a good pace but Leclerc manages to lengthen the gap. At Fifteen laps to the end, the race directors decide that drivers could use the DRS in turn 18 before the straight. Meanwhile, Sainz attacks from outside Alonso, the two drivers are wheel-to-wheel but Sainz succeeds to pass and takes P7. The Ferrari driver has gained three positions and now he will surely try to attack Ricciardo. Checo Perez tries to pass Magnussen, who is at 1.4 seconds from the Mexican. Checo passes his in turn 1 on the straight by using the DRS and takes P4. Now Perez tries to get close to his next target: Lando Norris. Bottas passes Vettel, takes the ninth position and tries to chase Alonso. Hamilton slips in P14 from P13. Sainz could potentially use the DRS on Ricciardo and decides to exploit this opportunity, getting closer to the McLaren driver but not enough to pass him. Meanwhile, Magnussen is managing Ricciardo’s pressure. Verstappen is trying to get as close as possible to Leclerc but he is more than 1 second far from the Ferrari (1.257). Perez decides to attack Norris and the two drivers are wheel-to-wheel but he manages to win the duel against Norris. Now Leclerc has the two Red Bulls at his back. Ricciardo succeeds to pass Magnussen and takes P5, while Sainz passes the Haas driver too at lap 12. Alonso seems to be in crisis with his best. During lap 13, the gap between the first two drivers seems to increase. Ricciardo is almost one second faster than Norris is. 

Sainz decides to engage the Australian in a duel and succeeds to take the P5 from him. From the beginning of the race, Carlos gained five positions but Norris is too far and it seems impossible to overtake the +4.683 gap to Norris. Verstappen is continuously reducing his gap to Leclerc, from +1.345, +1.161 to +1048. Bottas would like to pass Alonso but the Spanish driver uses the DRS and puts his car in the middle of the track. A new white and black flag arrives but this time for Alonso who weaved on the straight and Bottas finally passes Alonso. Sainz retrieves one second in each lap to Norris and now he is at +3.517. Verstappen is not giving up his chance to take the pole position and now he is at +0.989. He cuts the chicane and this time, he could use the DRS at five laps to the end. Meanwhile, the Ferrari radio team says to Charles that he is having some issues due to graining. Verstappen opens the wing and he is close. Sainz decides to attack Norris at +1.320, as the McLaren driver is slower than the Ferrari driver is, and takes P4. At three laps to the end, Verstappen is really close to Leclerc and asks his team to let make him. At lap 20, in turn 3, he opens his wing and passes from the outside Leclerc. The Ferrari driver tries to remain close to the Red Bull and use the DRS at six tenths from Verstappen but he is having issues due to the graining of the red tyres, so he cannot hope to pass Verstappen. The sprint race ends and Verstappen gets the pole position and 8 points. That’s it right? Yes, asks Max to his radio team. In P2, there is Leclerc (7 points), followed by Perez (6 points), Sainz (5 points), Norris (4 points), Ricciardo (3 points) and Bottas (2 points). Magnussen is the last driver to get points because he is in P8 and he gained just one point. At his back, the Alpine driver Alonso and Schumacher. Russell is in P11, followed by Tsunoda, Vettel, Hamilton and Stroll.  Ocon is sixteenth, Gasly seventeenth, followed by Albon and Latifi. The last driver is Zhou who could not continue the sprint race. Leclerc says to his team it is weird. We have had more graining. Although confused due to the issues they had today, the Ferrari driver starts to wave to Ferrari tifosi, who supported the team both during yesterday’s qualifying and this sprint race. On Sunday, Verstappen and Leclerc will start again together in the first line. Max Verstappen is satisfied with his team’s performance especially after the issues he had at the start:

"We did well as a team and it is of course a positive day for us. I didn’t have the best start so we need to investigate what happened there but after that we had good race pace. Initially for the first 10 laps or so it seemed like the gap to Charles wasn’t really growing but then I think at one point the tyre degradation started to kick in a bit more and I could close the gap and I got ahead. Tomorrow is a new day and there are no guarantees, I still expect it to be very close and I the battle tomorrow will be difficult. We are very focused on what is ahead and we hope to do a good job tomorrow".

Sergio Perez is happy for his P3. The team managed to minimise the damage from qualifying and he was able to get a strong start and to progress through the field:

"I am happy with the result of the sprint and looking forward to tomorrow starting from P3. We managed to minimise the damage from quali so I am happy with that, it was a nice save and it was all we needed for today, anything more would have been a bonus. I got a really strong start and after that I was just progressing through the field, it got a bit messy with Daniel when we touched, but overall it was a nice sprint for me and we got some good overtaking done. I think there is some fine tuning we can do for tomorrow and hopefully we are able to do it to be in the mix for the win, which is the target. We certainly have good pace and I am looking to produce another solid weekend for the Team, hopefully we can come out on top against the Ferraris. We have seen in Melbourne and we have seen here already that it can change fairly quickly so either team can turn things around and we certainly expect the Ferraris to be strong. I got really close to Charles today near the end but it was just a sprint so let’s what we can do over race distance".

Says Christian Horner, who sees both Red Bull cars at the front of the grid:

"It was a great performance today by both drivers. All credit to Max, he kept his head, stayed patient and kept his position on the tail of Charles, we could see the Ferrari’s front tyre was starting to go, and when his opportunity to take back the lead came, he took it. Checo drove well today and made great progress up the grid to take some valuable points and put himself in a better starting place on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Max didn’t have the best start, but we’ve got the data from today, so we’ll need to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes tomorrow. But the good thing is we’ve now got two cars up at the front of the grid and we’ll hope to capitalise on that".

Charles Leclerc explains the reason for tyres’ graining due to too much push at the beginning to increase the gap between Max and him:

"The Sprint taught us some valuable lessons ahead of tomorrow’s race. My start was really strong, and then I got out of Max’s DRS zone by creating a gap and was confident until we started to have some graining in the closing laps. We may have paid the price for pushing too hard at the start, so that’s something we have to work on tonight. If we manage to cure that, it will be a good fight tomorrow".

Carlos Sainz Jr. is relieved with today’s performance:

"Today was a good day and I’m fairly happy with the comeback. The start went well and then I was able to pick up places one at a time, with strong pace and good tyre management all the way. It was a solid Sprint race but most importantly, we are back in a good position for tomorrow. After a difficult day yesterday, I want to thank all the tifosi for their support. It’s such a positive boost. The weekend is still not over and I will give everything tomorrow to deliver a good result".

Says Laurent Mekies, Racing Director of Scuderia Ferrari:

"It was a particularly busy Sprint from our point of view and the most important aspect of it was to have got Carlos back onto the second row, after he did a good job of moving up the order from tenth. Charles got a perfect start and was running at a very strong pace in the opening laps, although not quite enough to distance the Red Bulls. That’s why, in the closing stages, when he had a bit more tyre graining than Verstappen, he was unable to fend him off. Carlos was very adept at executing the race to the letter, in the way we had planned". 

So he adds:

"He got off the line well and then he waited patiently in the opening laps before picking off all the cars ahead of him that were realistic targets. Having him on the second row is important for the whole team because it puts us on equal terms with our closest rivals in what I expect to be a very tactical race. We will see some cars running quicker at the start of the stints and others that will be stronger towards the end. We have to take all these factors into consideration and work out the best possible strategy. The race looks to be open and we want to give it our all to repay the many fans who have come to the Grand Prix to thank them for their support, not just this weekend, but especially when things were not going that well for us".

George Russell is not satisfied with the team’s performance because they had good pace but not they were not enough quick in the straight to get some progress:

"It wasn't very enjoyable for us today and it was difficult to overtake, we had some good pace but not the speed in a straight line to really make progress. The sprint races are very short and there isn't time for the tyres to start degrading, creating differences between drivers and cars, opening up opportunities. We didn't make strong starts today which is unlike us, we've made solid starts recently. Strategy is going to be key tomorrow, we'll have to do something different to our competition, that will give us opportunities to fight and move up the grid. It's been a difficult weekend so far for us, tyre warm-up has been difficult, we need to get on top of things and capitalise on what is possible tomorrow".

Lewis Hamilton highlights how the team is working hard to overcome the difficulties and to improve the car. He says that most of the people, who have been working in his team for 20 years, have been through these difficulties sometimes. So they need just to continue to work hard and progress through the year:

"Today is what it is - a lot of work is going on in the background but ultimately, we haven't got it right yet this year and everyone is working as hard as they can to correct it. The team have been through many, many tough years. Most of the people that I'm working with have been with this team for more than 20 years, so they've been through it. It wasn't the greatest of years in 2013 but we've had great years since then. We stick together, we try to motivate everyone. This is the situation that we are faced with and everyone's got their heads down, working. We are fighting to understand the car and improve and progress through the year. That is all we can hope for right now".

Says the Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff:

"What we saw today was a car without enough of a performance differential to the midfield cars to make the overtakes. If we were running in free air, the picture would be similar to previous races where we moved forward but behind the cars in a DRS train, the car didn't have enough performance to make progress. Point-scoring needs to be the minimum for tomorrow and we know that isn't any where near our expectations, so it's a humbling experience. We understand our problems, we have a direction to unlock the potential that is within the car to bring us much closer to the front but at the moment, we don't have the key. Therefore you just need to grind away and rely on the science and the physics. The passion and determination to improve is there in every team member".

On Sunday, April 24, 2022 is held the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Despite the good weather that graced the fans at Imola in the morning and clouds letting up during the laps to the grid, there is a risk of precipitation in the air. 

After taking the first position in the Sprint Race, Max Verstappen is lined up ahead of Charles Leclerc, while Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz Jr. are third and fourth and Zhou Guanyu starts from the pit lane. The lights go out under a grey sky and the whole field is on intermediate tyres. Verstappen goes first, followed by Perez, while Daniel Ricciardo collides with Sainz at Tamburello, sending the Ferrari out and bringing out the Safety Car. Leclerc goes down in fourth behind Lando Norris, who passes him into the second turn; Kevin Magnussen goes from eight to fifth position, ahead of George Russell, who goes from eleventh to sixth. The opening lap is also good for Lance Stroll, who goes from fifteenth to evelenth position, while team mate Sebastian Vettel is up to ninth from thirteenth. The race restarts for the fifth lap: Red Bull occupies the first two places, while Norris holds in third position ahead of Leclerc. This is the order until lap 8, when the Ferrari overtakes him on the main straight. Verstappen is three seconds ahead of team mate Perez by this point, Leclerc another three seconds back. Russell, up five places thanks to a brilliant start, starts a duel with Magnussen for the fifth position. He stalks the Haas from lap 11 to 13, while the Dane almost loses out to him at the second turn on lap 12, but still keeps his place. The Mercedes finally manages to pass at Variante Alta with a move on Lap 13. This battle helps Bottas who steals the sixth position off the Haas driver a lap later at Rivazza. Back at the front, Leclerc is just 1.3 seconds behind Perez, who is in turn six seconds behind his team mate on Lap 15. There is no rain yet so the tyres are suffering: it is Ricciardo who takes the risk to pit for mediums on lap 18. Ferrari’s pit crew then emerges but Leclerc do not come in for a new set. Despite this, Red Bull decides to send Perez in for mediums. Leclerc emerges just ahead of Perez, but the Mexican’s tyres are now warmer and he goes past into the opening chicane. It is clear that Red Bull’s strategy is right, and they are back on course for the first two places. With no DRS yet, reaching the second position is difficult for Leclerc, while Verstappen continues, now 9.5 seconds in the lead. On lap 34, the track conditions are dry enough for DRS to be enabled.

Verstappen still leads the race alone, 12 seconds ahead of his team mate, and laps Hamilton, in fourteenth position, on lap 41. On lap 50 Leclerc comes in for soft tyres, while Perez and Verstappen pit for the same compounds on the following laps. Perez is forced to mount an hard defence to defend his second place. However, then there is a twist: Leclerc spins and tapps the wall at Variante Alta on lap 53. This causes him to drop down to ninth position as he pits for a new front wing. He manages to recover to sixth position with late passes on Vettel and Tsunoda. Verstappen wins by 16.5 seconds over team mate Perez, finding his way back into the championship fight with a decisive victory. Norris takes the final podium spot for McLaren. Russell ends fourth, 0.6 seconds ahead of ex-Mercedes driver Bottas. Yuki Tsunoda, who overtook Magnussen on lap 48 and Vettel on lap 54, ends in seventh place, gaining useful points for AlphaTauri. Vettel finishes eighth and his team mate Stroll tenth, so both Aston Martins bring home points having entered Imola without any. Between them is Magnussen, who fell to ninth position. Alex Albon takes the eleventh position for Williams: his pace on mediums is good enough to keep AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly behind by 0.6 seconds, while Lewis Hamilton ends thirteenth. Esteban Ocon finishes eleventh from sixteenth, but is classified fourteenth, thanks to a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release on his pit stop, which saw the Alpine bang wheels with Hamilton’s Mercedes in the pit lane. Zhou Guanyu’s Sprint crash saw him start from the pits and finish fifteenth for Alfa Romeo, ahead of Williams’ Nicholas Latifi in sixteenth. Mick Schumacher spun at the start and again on lap 25 in a duel with Latifi, to finish seventeenth. After his accident with Sainz, Ricciardo was the first driver to pit for slicks. The Australian came in once again for a set of hard tyres but finishes eighteenth. Alonso and Sainz are the two retirees. Verstappen made a better start in Emilia Romagna and, together with team mate Perez, ran for the first two places for almost the entire race. Verstappen never had troubles as he maximised his weekend with the first place in the Sprint and the victory on Sunday, with the bonus point for fastest lap:

"To have a weekend like this for both of us with a one-two for the Team is just incredible. It was a very lovely Sunday! Everything today was well executed, coming into the weekend I didn’t expect it to be like this. It was more or less a perfect weekend, everything went well for us and we’ll of course enjoy today. I scored the maximum amount of points this weekend and we can be really proud of that as a Team, it’s a great boost. Today was all about judging the conditions, making the right calls and staying very focused and I think we did that very well. We need to keep focused and we know that at the next race we need to be up there again and keep this going".

Perez had a harder race than his team mate, because Leclerc was on his tail for most of the race. But the ability to extract pace from the car when needed and the great tyre management saw the Mexican driver obtain another podium:

"It was a tough race but an enjoyable one. Rule number one in these conditions is to finish. It was difficult because in these conditions it is easy to make a mistake and put a foot wrong but we managed a clean race and kept out of trouble, which was pretty important. I got a great start and the restart was good too, then I think the Team did a great job with strategy out there. On the intermediates I was really thinking to save the tyres but the degradation was high and Charles was really fast towards the end of that stint so I was happy to just keep him behind. The race was pretty intense with Charles, he was always within an undercut range and when we thought we had him under control he boxed and made things a lot harder for both of us. We were both pushing with cold tyres and, in fairness to Charles, it was easy to make mistakes. We have had such a difficult start to the season with reliability concerns and DNFs, so it was really important we brought it home today - it is a great result for the Team".

Christian Horner is very happy of the result and the performaces of his two drivers, who have drivent brilliantly to secure a one-two finish:

"This has to be one of our best ever results, to take the maximum points across the whole weekend, bar one, was incredible. Both Max and Checo have driven brilliantly to secure our first one-two finish since Malaysia in 2016. I’m very proud of the entire team, from everyone at the track and those back in the factory at Milton Keynes, they delivered a phenomenal performance, it’s just what we needed to rebound from Australia. It’s a long season and we’ll take a lot of confidence from this result and try to build on it in Miami in a couple of weeks’ time".

Norris started really well in third position, making out Leclerc and running always third before the Ferrari recovered. From this moment on, fourth place looked guaranteed as he had a relatively lonely race, before gaining the podium when Leclerc made a mistake:

"P3, what a result! We certainly didn’t expect that coming into this weekend, so I’m happy to be leaving with a podium. It’s been a tricky weekend, but the team recovered well to put me in a good position for today’s race. I had a good start and was managing my tyres to the end. At that point we were on for a P4, which would still have been a great result. We got a bit lucky with the issues ahead, but we did what we needed to do to be in a position to take that opportunity. Great work by the team at track and back at the factory, great pit stops and a great result. On to Miami".

The contact with Sainz Jr. at the start dropped Ricciardo to the back of the field. Then, he was the first to swap to the slicks but could not make any progress:

"It was a great result for Lando. However, it was one of those Sundays for me unfortunately. At Turn 1, I thought I got hit but it was actually me getting on the kerb. I then slipped off it and went into Carlos [Sainz], before being bumped by Bottas. We had a bit of damage and struggled for the rest of the race. It’s a painful one and it’s never nice to be involved in incidents. There’s not much more to say. Just one of those Sundays. We’ll celebrate Lando’s podium and learn what we can as we head to Miami".

Team Principal Andreas Seidl thanks the hard work of the team for Lando’s podium. He is unhappy about Ricciardo’s collision with Sainz, which damaged the car and changed the course of his race:

"P3 for Lando today comes as the result of hard work and a well-managed strategy. He drove a great race today. After a good start, he worked very hard, looked after his tyres, managed the gap to the cars we were racing and put himself in the best position to take advantage of any opportunity that came his way. Unfortunately Daniel had a first lap collision with Carlos [Sainz] which damaged the car and his race was pretty much over, but he was able to provide useful information to the team to maximise our result. The performance we saw this weekend on a different track and in a variety of conditions confirms the potential of the MCL36 that we have been unlocking race by race. That said, we remain realistic about the work we have to do to close the gap to the front of the field. Also our pitcrew again delivered good pitstops. My thanks today to the entire team, here at the track and back home at the factory, together with our colleagues at Mercedes HPP. It’s been an intense first Sprint weekend of the 2022 season. We head home now to reset, analyse what we have learnt here and prepare for our first visit to Miami".

George Russell made a great start, going from eleventh on the grid to sixth in a move that made his race. He was able to pass Magnussen and run fifth, then gained a place after Leclerc’s spin:

"I'm relatively pleased to maximise the points available this weekend. Whether we're getting the most out of the car is a different story and I do think things have fallen slightly in our favour with these first four races. I'm really happy with this P4, but if we want to sustain this position in the championship, we need to find more pace. We've got these overall limitations with the car with the bouncing, and we know that we are struggling with the tyre warm up and this is the coldest race weekend we've had by far this year. I think it's been a bit of a trend since Bahrain, we've progressively gotten a bit slower in qualifying, and I think that's because Bahrain is the hottest we've experienced so there was no problem with tyre warm up. Then we want to Jeddah, and it was still hot, but the track was a bit smoother. Melbourne, a bit cooler. Here, very cold. And that's when you see the McLarens, Alpines, and Haases coming into their own but then struggling a bit more in the race. We need to find a better compromise because we were fortunate today, we had a decent result, but ultimately, we were starting far too low on the grid".

Hamilton dropped back at the start and, when he started to recover, had to pit for slick tyres. He lost time as Ocon was released into his path, and then he remained behind Gasly with no managing to make his way past:

"This was a weekend to forget, that's for sure. Behind Gasly, we both had DRS so it was impossible to overtake, and I lost a few places in the pit stop. This weekend, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We live and we learn, and there's not much else to say. I'll keep working as hard as I can to try and pull it back together, somehow. I hope for a better weekend in Miami, it will be difficult but I'll try and get myself in a positive headspace for the next one".

Toto Wolff affirms that the team has to work hard to give the drivers a quick car. He says there are a lot of problems but has still hopes for the next race and the future:

"What is clear from the entire weekend is that we have work to do to deliver our drivers a quick enough car. We saw with George what our car can do in clear air but it's still not good enough. We missed out on adjusting George's front flap at the pit stop due to an issue which meant he had a car that was setup for wet for the majority of the race so a great drive from him to hold on the P4 at the end. For Lewis, it was a simple case of us not giving him the tool he needs. He was squeezed by the Alpine, and undercut at the pitstop, which left him in a DRS train where it was impossible to overtake with our car. We are not producing a car good enough or worthy of a World Champion like Lewis so we need to look at things for Miami, make a step forward in our understanding and bring development to the car to fix our issues".

Carlos Sainz Jr. did not have a good start, finding himself side by side with Ricciardo. First the McLaren was ahead, but then, running wide in the slippery conditions, it tipped the Ferrari into a spin and took Sainz in the gravel in a racing incident:

"This was an unlucky day. I braked well into turn 1, leaving enough space to my left, but unfortunately Daniel (Ricciardo) lost control of his car a bit and hit me from behind, throwing me into a spin and into the gravel. It’s a big shame because we were up for a good race, but there is nothing else I could have done differently at that point to avoid it. It’s tough to take, as today I wanted to have a good race in front of our fans. For the last two races things haven’t gone our way at all, but I’m still confident we can turn it around. There are many races ahead of us and you can be sure we will keep pushing. On to Miami".

Charles Leclerc lost out to Perez at the start. Pushing the Red Bull Racing all the race, at some point, the Monegasque took too much kerb and spun into the barriers. Because of this, the extra stop needed for a new front wing dropped him to ninth, and he managed to recover a few places:

"It was a very tricky race. Third was the best result we could have secured today, as our competitors were very strong. I struggled on the Soft tyres but when I saw an opportunity to overtake Perez for second, I went for it, pushing a bit too much, when I should have stayed put to secure those points. We will analyse all the data and come back stronger".

Mattia Binotto expresses disappoint, because they strongly believed to gain bettere results in Italy. The drivers did not make good starts and some issues were also due to the pit stops. Team will continue to extract all the potential out of the cars in view of the next stop in Miami:

"Of course we are disappointed as we wanted a better result than this in front of all our fans. It was a difficult race. Our drivers did not get perfect starts, possibly being on the worse side of the track. Charles’ first pit stop was not the best either, which meant he was back out on track without the gap that might have allowed him to fend off Perez and then he made a mistake trying to overtake him. Carlos was very unlucky at the start and for the second time in a row, he was unable to finish the race. It’s a real shame, not just because of the points lost, but also because he’s completed very few kilometres in the last few Grands Prix. Nevertheless, we will not lose heart and we will continue to work calmly. We wanted to give the fans something to cheer about, as they packed out the grandstands and the fields with a sea of red to support us here at Imola. Naturally, we are disappointed not to have managed that, but there will be other races and opportunities to put a smile on their faces. Now we look forward to Miami and a new track, which makes it an even more compelling prospect. We will continue to work hard to extract all the potential out of the F1-75 and to optimise the updates that we will be introducing in the coming races".

Next stop will be the Miami Grand Prix, which will take place on May 6-8, 2022. This new era of Formula 1 takes to a new circuit, with Max Verstappen having scored a valuable victory and having now moved up to the second position in the drivers' standings behind Leclerc.