F1 Imola GP: Max Verstappen wins sprint race to take pole ahead of Charles LeClerc, Ricciardo sixth
Max Verstappen will star on pole at the Imola Grand Prix after an eventful sprint race, prompting a candid response from Lewis Hamilton after another horror showing.
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World champion Max Verstappen recovered from a poor start to fight back and win Saturday’s 21-lap sprint race and claim pole position for Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Beaten as the lights went out by championship leader Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, who pulled clear, the 24-year-old Dutchman showed his tenacity and pace to regain the lead with two laps remaining in his Red Bull.
Leclerc, struggling with tyre wear, came home second ahead of Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari and Lando Norris of McLaren.
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Daniel Ricciardo finished sixth in the second McLaren ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo, and Kevin Magnussen who was eighth, the final points-scoring position, for Haas.
“I had a very bad start with too much wheel spin,” said Verstappen. “I had to stay calm. Charles had more pace, but he ran out of tyres. It may be different tomorrow, but today it worked out ok and I was happy to have a clean race.” Leclerc was philosophical.
“It’s still a front row start,” he said.
“I struggled with the tyres, with graining on the front left so we have to work to come back stronger tomorrow. The support here for Ferrari is amazing.”
Mercedes struggled again despite an improved showing in second practice.
On a difficult track for overtaking, George Russell came in 11th and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton 14th, positions once seemed unimaginable for the multi-championship winning team.
Hamilton made the stunning admission that Mercedes have no hope of defending their title this year.
“We are obviously not fighting for the championship this year -- first of all we have to understand this car and improve and make some progress through the year. That’s all we can hope for,” admitted Hamilton.
“We are all working hard and there are a lot of people in the team who have been here for 20 years - so it’s not new for them.”
On a bright, dry afternoon, Leclerc made an excellent start and swept past pole-sitter Verstappen to lead into Tamburello with Norris third ahead of Magnussen, on medium tyres, and Perez.
Behind the front-runners, Zhou Guanyu tried to pass Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri on the outside of Piratella, but made contact and spun off into a wall.
His Alfa Romeo was badly damaged, but he was unhurt while Gasly suffered a puncture.
This collision prompted a Safety Car intervention while the debris was cleared. After four laps, the racing resumed with Magnussen given a black-and-white warning flag for weaving in front of Perez on the straight.
To the delight of the ‘tifosi’ crowded around the circuit, Leclerc drove with text-book perfection to remain clear of Verstappen while the two Mercedes, much-improved in the earlier second practice session, struggled to advance.
By lap 11, Leclerc led by 1.4 seconds with Perez charging through to third, six seconds adrift, Norris fourth and a charging Ricciardo up to fifth ahead of Sainz, also on a charge for Ferrari, and Magnussen.
Sainz soon passed Ricciardo for fifth, making use of his Drag Reduction System (DRS) at Tamburello, while up front Verstappen closed up on Leclerc, who was struggling with graining of his front right tyre.
With four laps remaining, the Ferrari led by seven-tenths, but had to repel the Red Bull’s attacks under braking at Tamburello for the next two laps before Verstappen went round the outside to take the lead.
Sainz, who had a miserable weekend in Melbourne and a crash in Friday practice, demonstrated his bold recovery powers by taking Norris for fourth after starting from 10th on the grid.
FULL STARTING GRID POSITIONS
Front row: Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)
2nd row: Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)
3rd row: Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes)
4th row: Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari)
5th row: Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari)
6th row: George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Red Bull)
7th row: Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)
8th row: Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault)
9th row: Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Red Bull) Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes)
10th row: Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) Zhou Guanyu
EARLIER: MERCEDES NIGHTMARE, RICCIARDO ‘HURT’ AFTER QUALIFYING
Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff is tortured by his team’s cars struggle for pace and performance this season, admitting the car is “not driveable” at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as both cars failed to make the top ten of qualifying.
While seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton conceded every weekend “is a rescue mission” for the drivers, teammate George Russell suffered such violent porpoising that the bouncing effect was actually damaging the car.
Red Bull’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen took pole position for Saturday’s sprint race after outpacing Ferrari’s series leader Charles Leclerc by 1.2 seconds in a rain-hit qualifying.
The 24-year-old Dutchman drove his Red Bull with care and aplomb to avoid problems on a day of frequent crashes and five red flags that left Ferrari’s championship leader frustrated.
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It was Verstappen’s first pole this season and the 12th of his career. The 100km sprint race will set the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Lando Norris was third for McLaren ahead of Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Fernando Alonso of Alpine and Daniel Ricciardo, who was sixth in the second McLaren.
But the big concern is the dramas at Mercedes, with Hamilton all but conceding his title hopes are on life support while the Austrian team boss Wolff searched for answers to the defending constructors’ champions dramatic fall from grace.
For the first time in ten years, Mercedes failed to get either car into the final part of qualifying, with Hamilton 13th and Russell 11th.
“Obviously, it is really painful while you are in the moment and certainly when I see our car pounding around five seconds off the pace you want to strangle yourself,” he said.
“But, as a matter of fact, I enjoy the challenge and I enjoy it being bad because, over the long run with these regulations, we’re going to be good.
Likes the tricky conditions does Max 💪@pirellisport#ImolaGPpic.twitter.com/oMWPgy0J4u
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 22, 2022
“The feedback we’re getting from Lewis and George is that there’s literally zero grip," he told Sky Sports.
“This points to the tyres, but that is not the worst of it.
“We had George bouncing so much that he broke the stay on the floor - and you can’t drive. You have to lift on the straight.
“I have never experienced in my life bouncing like this but clearly it’s not driveable.”
The ‘stay’ is a rod attached to the body and floor of the car to prevent the floor flexing downwards during ‘porpoising’ - a safety move introduced during pre-season testing when the new generation of cars were launched.
Despite the team’s struggles to unlock the potential of their car, Mercedes believe they can fight back in the championship.
After three races, Ferrari lead with 104 points ahead of Mercedes on 65 and Red Bull on 55.
“I think when you’re optimistic, and I’m rarely optimistic in my assessments, if we are able to unlock the potential in the car, I think we can fight for this championship,” Wolff said.
“But, at the moment, when you see the gaps, particularly today, it seems a totally unrealistic endeavour, but we just keep continuing and trying to understand.”
HAMILTON’S RESCUE MISSION
Hamilton, 37, admits that winning a record eighth world championship is now looking a tall order.
Despite Mercedes saying that they were bringing improvements for the car this weekend, the biggest problem - the violent bouncing on the straights, known as porpoising - appears to be worse than ever.
“It wasn’t a great session,” Hamilton said. “Naturally it is disappointing. We came here with optimism and you know everyone is working really hard back at the factory but things just don’t come together.
“I think we underperformed as a team. We will work as hard as we can to move up in the sprint race. That is going to be hard but maybe the weather will improve and we can do better. We will just keep working. It is what it is. Each weekend is a rescue.”
Mercedes were so far off the pace that Hamilton only just scraped through to the second part of qualifying - by 0.004sec. Five cars are knocked out in the first part, something that has already happened to Hamilton once this season, with another five knocked out in the second session, leaving ten cars in the shoot-out for pole position.
Not since the Japanese Grand Prix in 2012 has Mercedes failed to be part of the top ten shoot-out, ending a run of 187 consecutive appearances in the final part of qualifying.
There is still time to recover places over the weekend, though Hamilton is unlikely to replicate his extraordinary drive in Brazil last year when he started the sprint race in last place but went on to win the race on the Sunday.
Max takes his first pole of the season! 🙌#ImolaGP#F1pic.twitter.com/ku9l7naaT1
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 22, 2022
RICCIARDO’S SIGNS OF LIFE
The performance at Imola by McLaren, with Norris third and Ricciardo in sixth, was further proof their team may have turned the corner after their early season struggles.
While the Australian F1 star is still giving up close to a full season to Norris, Ricciardo was optimistic that his season is on the improve and believes his qualifying could’ve been sharper if not for the final session red flags.
“On paper it’s pretty good,” Ricciardo said.
“I feel a little hurt because I think pretty much everyone in front of me did two laps and I just got the one because of the red flags.
“With the improvements on the second lap, I really feel I could be significantly further up, but that’s alright. I’m happy we had good pace and happy we’re in a good position up the pointy end.
“We’ll fight hard for the rest of the weekend and I’m looking forward to the Sprint. It’ll be fun.”
An unfortunate turn for Lando 😖 but it ended up securing him a third place finish in qualifying 😀#ImolaGP#F1pic.twitter.com/KE4zVvqxpz
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 22, 2022
Starting grid for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix sprint race:
Front row: Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)
2nd row: Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari)
3rd row: Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes)
4th row: Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo)
5th row: Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)
6th row: George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari)
7th row: Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo)
8th row: Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri)
9th row: Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri) Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes)
10th row: Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes
F1 STAR OPENS UP ON FUTURE AFTER HORROR START
By – Rebecca Clancy
Sebastian Vettel made his Formula One debut 15 years ago and since then he has won four world titles and 53 races.
Yet he knows it is highly unlikely that he will win another – at least with his present team, Aston Martin. Perhaps it is little surprise, then, that he will make a decision about his future during the season’s summer break.
The 34-year-old German, whose Aston Martin contract expires at the end of the year, has endured a torrid start to this season. He missed the first two races after contracting Covid, which he admits hit him harder than he had expected, and he struggled to return to training. Then, last time out in Australia, he crashed twice over the race weekend.
Vettel knows the questions surrounding his future only surface because he is not in a position to be winning races any time soon and he openly admits that the Aston Martin car is “not good enough”.
So what now for the German, who enjoyed so much success between 2010 and 2013 when he won four successive world drivers’ titles with Red Bull?
“I know it’s not going to be another five, ten years that I’m here,” he tells The Times.
“So I think that picture is quite clear, but equally I don’t have a number in my head. By nature, I would say I’m an optimist and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what’s coming in the next couple of weeks and months and to see if we’re able to make progress based on that.
“But at some point, obviously, I will sit down and make the decision for myself and then see what the future might or might not bring.
“I think, just the way the sport works, usually it’s around the summer [making decisions about driving] so by the end of that it will be clear.”
After winning his world titles with Red Bull, Vettel moved to Ferrari in 2015 and looked to be a serious contender in the championship fight against Lewis Hamilton in 2017 and 2018. However, in both years the team and driver made mistakes, leading to an implosion towards the end of each season, opening the door for Mercedes and Hamilton to seal convincing victories in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
After the talented Charles Leclerc joined Ferrari in 2019, the team decided not to renew Vettel’s deal. In his final year with them in 2020, the German scored only 33 points, his worst tally since his debut season.
Joining Aston Martin was expected to give Vettel a new lease of life but the team have not been able to provide him with the machinery needed to fight at the front.
Helmut Marko, the Red Bull adviser who brought Vettel to the team and remains close to him, recently said that it “hurts my soul to see a four-times world champion in such a situation”.
Vettel, however, is trying to stay optimistic. Speaking before this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, he stressed that change and progress takes time.
“[Last year] the main focus was 2022,” Vettel says. “So we expected a big step forward for this year and as we can see, it didn’t happen.
“The reason for that is because we suffer the problem of porpoising, similar to some other teams, which came as a surprise. But the truth is that our base car is not good enough and the others are better.”
Vettel’s success on the track may have diminished but his role as a spokesman in the sport has grown. He is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association and has become increasingly outspoken on social issues, such as wearing rainbow-lace boots in the Middle East to support the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, and campaigning for environmental change. He is well respected by his peers and his absence was felt in Saudi Arabia, when a missile fell close to the track in Jeddah and the drivers met for four hours, during which time they unanimously decided not to race, before eventually being persuaded to change their minds and compete.
Vettel was involved in the meeting remotely but will not be drawn on whether or not he would have raced – all he will say is that “I was happy I wasn’t there.”
F1’s owner, Liberty Media, has been concentrating on turning the drivers into the stars of the sport, not least through the Drive to Survive series on Netflix. But the sport’s leaders are coming under growing pressure to take a stand in the countries with questionable human-rights records where races are held, such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Vettel says it is not right that so much responsibility is falling upon the drivers.
“Ultimately, we should not be in a position that we have to take care of these things, it’s not our responsibility,” he says.
“You should have experts looking at these sorts of things beforehand and making sure that where we go is safe. Some places you can never be 100 per cent safe but some places are less safe than others.”
Vettel makes it clear that he also thinks F1 needs to do more to help the environment, which would include arranging the calendar so that the teams do not arrive in Europe, then head off to Miami, then go back to Europe and then travel to Canada, as will happen over the next couple of months.
When Vettel leaves F1, the sport will miss his penchant for speaking his mind and his passion for taking a stand on issues that are bigger than sport. He still loves driving, he says, even if he has no chance of winning at the moment.
For now though, he has to focus on this weekend. With only a few improvements and no big upgrades coming for Aston Martin in Italy, it could be another difficult one. When the interview finishes, I wish him good luck for the weekend. “Thanks, we’re going to need it,” he replies.
No hard feeling between Mercedes drivers
George Russell insisted Thursday that there are no “hard feelings” between him and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton despite sitting ahead of the seven-time world champion in the Formula 1 title race.
Russell, in his first season with Mercedes, even deferred to Hamilton as the team “captain”.
“I think because we’re at just different stages of our career, there’s no hard feelings either way,” Russell told Sky Sports ahead of this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
“From my side, I’m 24 years old going up against the greatest of all time, if he were to finish ahead of me, obviously I don’t like it but I’m not going to cry and sulk about it.”
Russell is currently second in the championship after three races with 37 points, 34 behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who won the season-opener in Bahrain and in Australia two weeks ago.
He is also nine points ahead of Hamilton who languishes down in sixth place.
“I think equally from Lewis’ side, he’s achieved so much – he’s a seven-time world champion, he’s got all the records,” added Russell who spent three seasons with Williams before his promotion to Mercedes.
“You see it sometimes when you’ve got two drivers who are at the same stage of their career … In the back of all drivers’ minds they’re fighting for that top leadership spot, whereas for both of us, there isn’t that because Lewis has been here for so long.
“I’m the new kid within the team and I’m not going to go out there trying to be the leader of the team when I’m going up against the greatest of all time who’s been here for 10 years. He’s like the captain of the team and that’s how it should be.”
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