Max Verstappen loses the lead to Charles Leclerc at the start but passes the world championship leader in the closing stages to seal victory; watch the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 from 12:30pm on Sunday
Saturday 23 April 2022 21:16, UK
Max Verstappen produced a stunning late pass on Charles Leclerc to take victory in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Sprint and ensure a first-place start for Sunday's race.
Verstappen, who had started ahead of Leclerc after taking pole in a wet qualifying session on Friday, lost his lead at the start as a poor getaway enabled the Ferrari to beat him to the first corner.
To the delight of the partisan Italian crowd, Leclerc looked to be cruising to victory, but his tyres started to wear in the closing stages of the 21-lap race and Verstappen took advantage to strike at the start of the penultimate lap and claim the eight-point reward for first.
"My start was not very good and it took a while to try and put the pressure on," Verstappen said after the Sprint. "We were a bit better on our tyres at the end of the race so I could get into DRS and we had a good fight into Turn 2."
The other Red Bull of Sergio Perez finished third after a solid drive to rise from seventh, while Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz produced a strong recovery to finish fourth having started 10th after crashing out of qualifying.
It was a disappointing race for Mercedes, as George Russell was unable to improve on the 11th place he started the race in, while Lewis Hamilton dropped a position to finish 14th.
McLaren were able to overcome a disastrous Practice Two ahead of the Sprint to seal fifth and sixth for Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, while Valtteri Bottas also put aside his absence from P2 to finish seventh. Kevin Magnussen took the final point-scoring position for Haas in eighth.
After Leclerc passed Verstappen off the line, little more action was able to develop as Guanyu Zhou and Pierre Gasly triggered a Safety Car as they clashed at Piratella in an incident which forced the Alfa Romeo to retire.
Gasly was able to continue after a pit stop but the Safety Car meant the race did not resume until the end of the fourth lap, taking away a significant chunk of the 21-lap contest, which was the first Sprint of the 2022 season after the format was introduced to the sport last year.
Upon the resumption Leclerc opened a gap that was keeping Verstappen well out of DRS range, but wearing on his front-left tyre enabled the Dutchman to close and set up a thrilling finish.
Leclerc, who has won two of the opening three races of the season, was able to deny Verstappen at first, but the reigning world champion was not to be denied on the penultimate lap, as he boldly drove round the outside at Turn 1 at the end of the DRS zone to take the lead.
Any Tifosi hopes that Leclerc would be able to use the DRS zone to fight back were quickly dispelled, as Verstappen pulled clear to seal the - newly increased for this season - eight points for first place.
With each of the top eight also scoring points with a drop of one for each position, Leclerc actually extends his championship lead to 40 points, with Sainz moving past the pointless Russell into second.
"It's still a front row start," Leclerc said. "We struggled with the tyres at the end, so we need to analyse that for tomorrow. We need to make sure that we're ready.
"The pace was good until then, we started to have some graining on the front left and lost it towards the end. That's life, we'll go to work and come back stronger tomorrow."
Emilia Romagna GP: Sprint Result - Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
4) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
5) Lando Norris, McLaren
6) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
7) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
8) Kevin Magnussen, Haas
9) Fernando Alonso, Alpine
10) Mick Schumacher, Haas
After what appeared to be a potentially promising performance in P2 earlier on Saturday as Russell topped the timesheet, Mercedes produced a hugely-disappointing Sprint display.
Russell lost a place at the start, while Hamilton lost two. Russell was only able to regain that place to finish 11th, while Hamilton could only reclaim one of the two spots he lost to finish 14th.
The Silver Arrows' inability to pass the lower-midfield cars around them does not bode well for Sunday's Grand Prix, with points finishes far from guaranteed judging by Saturday's showing.
The display follows a terrible start to the season for the eight-time reigning constructors' champions, who have been severely off the pace set by Ferrari and Red Bull at the opening races of the season.
"A lot of work is going on in the background, but it is what it is," Hamilton said after the Sprint. "This is what we have and ultimately we haven't got it right this year.
"We're obviously not fighting for this championship but we're fighting to understand the car and improve."
