Emilia Romagna Grand Prix 2022: Daniel Ricciardo says sprint format could help McLaren

A year ago, Daniel Ricciardo and Mclaren scored a strong points result at Imola where a sprint format led to carnage on the track. The Aussie is ready for more chaos.

Australian F1 star Daniel Ricciardo has declared “anything is possible” as he rides his Melbourne high into this weekend’s special sprint event at Imola in Italy.

Ricciardo’s sixth place breakthrough at his home Grand Prix and first points of the season has opened the door to a possible McLaren revival with teammate Lando Norris finishing fifth and showing enough speed to qualify on the second row of the grid.

While even the McLaren team boss admits they’re still off the pace of the flying Ferraris, a wet weather forecast and the new sprint format could throw an interesting dynamic at the drivers this weekend.

“I’m still on a high after a strong result in front of an incredible home crowd in Melbourne, so hopefully we can keep the momentum going as we head to Imola,” Ricciardo said.

“With the sprint format returning, anything is possible so we’ve got to get our heads down, keep going with the improvements and extract as much as we can from the car.

“It’s a technically difficult track that’s fast and flowing, so it will be good to see how these new cars get on.

“Last year we got a nice haul of points in Imola, and I am hoping we can get some more this year.

“Whilst the weekend in Melbourne was definitely a positive step forward, we still have a long way to go to get the car in the place we want it to be.”

Under the sprint format being adopted at three events this year, drivers will have only one practice session on Friday followed by qualifying.

F1 GP

Saturday will feature a special 100km race for reduced series points with no pit stops and that finish order will set the grid for the traditional Sunday race with the usual points up for grabs.

The 2021 edition of the sprint at Imola provided no end of drama, crashes and general carnage in the rain and this year’s weather looks set to follow suit.

Critics suggest the lack of passing opportunities at Imola will make for a boring sprint race, but McLaren boss Andreas Seidl says the nature of this weekend just puts more pressure on teams to get their car humming as soon as they roll it off the truck.

“We have a good track record in Imola since it returned to the calendar in 2020, with double points for the team at both races. We aim for the same this year, but a track like Imola often creates opportunities and the addition of the sprint format for this weekend means we’ll need to be operationally sharp and ready to capitalise,” Seidl said.

“Imola is a great, historic track and it will be interesting to see how the improved overtaking from these new cars will impact racing.”

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Originally published as Emilia Romagna Grand Prix 2022: Daniel Ricciardo says sprint format could help McLaren