What happened at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola?

Max Verstappen does not have the best track record in Italy, but in the 2022 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the Red Bull driver came out on top. On the Imola circuit, he was supreme, and the Dutchman won every session that mattered. Moreover, he took the extra World Championship point for the fastest race lap. Will that happen again in 2023, or will Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin put up a stronger fight? 

Last year's weekend at Imola was the fourth on the Formula 1 calendar. This year it appears two races later. Unlike this season, Verstappen was in a lousy position after two crashes in three GPs, so the weekend at the Italian circuit was an important one for Verstappen (and for Red Bull Racing). In front of the Tifosi, Ferrari wanted to keep the momentum. Charles Leclerc had a 34-point World Championship lead going into the race, with Verstappen a further 12 points behind. 

Unlike this season, a sprint race took place at Imola last year. In rainy qualifying, Verstappen had first grabbed pole position. In Q3, he was almost a second faster than Charles Leclerc on the wet tarmac. He managed to cash in on the pole position a day later in the sprint race. The Ferrari driver pushed in the first laps, but at one point his tyres ran out of grip, and Verstappen crossed the line with a lead of almost three seconds.

Verstappen continues form

And so Verstappen was also allowed to start from pole position on Sunday (as this season's sprint rules did not apply then). All drivers started on intermediates and Verstappen maintained his first position. Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo hit each other. A short safety car followed, and the Dutchman had a fine restart.

From there, it was otherwise a trouble-free race for the Red Bull driver, who even lapped former title rival, Lewis Hamilton. From his teammate Sergio Perez, he had particularly little to fight against, and Charles Leclerc also had nothing to contribute. In the last ten laps, Leclerc made another pit stop, went for the fastest lap, but crashed into the wall. So in the end, a P6 turned out to be the final result for Leclerc. Perez and Lando Norris got to join Verstappen on the podium.