Emilia Romagna GP 2022: Verstappen and Red Bull defeat Ferrari at home
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) has taken a rotund and restorative win at the Emilia Romagna GP this Sunday in Ímola. His teammate Checo Pérez completed the 1-2 for the blue team, chasing away the doubts that hung over the reliability of their single-seater.  

Lando Norris (McLaren), for his part, has completed the podium, as he did one year ago in this very same scenario. Just as brilliant has been the performance of George Russell (Mercedes). The Briton has finished in fourth place, ten positions ahead of his lukewarm teammate Lewis Hamilton.  

Ferrari has been the great disappointment of the day. The superiority of their F1-75 has made them overconfident. Carlos Sainz was off the game on the first lap and Championship leader Charles Leclerc, finished sixth after going on a spin while he was chasing Pérez’s third place.  

The Austrians have been able to come back like true champions, effectively solving the issues that were preventing them from getting good results. Most importantly for them and their bruised confidence, however, they have managed to comfortably defeat Ferrari in their own home, just 70 kilometres away from their Maranello headquarters.  

 

A walk in the park for Verstappen 

The blatant superiority of Verstappen and Pérez has made for quite a bland Emilia Romagna GP 2022. The Dutchman easily held on to his starting first place as the lights came off. Leclerc, on the other hand, gave up second place to a very bold Mexican driver. That was the start of Ferrari’s calamitous day.

Moments later, Sainz was hit and sent off track by both Ricciardo and Bottas. That was the end of his race. After the incident, a safety car was triggered but this didn’t alter the positions. Not very aware of the difficult situation on the track, Leclerc attempt an overcut Pérez in boxes. 

Although he managed to rejoin the track ahead of the Mexican, this, on warmer tires, took the position back immediately. Knowing that in order to pass his rival he would have to run over the wet side of the track, the young Monegasque decided to follow behind in third.  

 Leclerc’s mistake at the Emilia Romagna GP 2022 

Leclerc, however, fell victim to his own frustration and attempted an attack on lap 50, going to boxes before Pérez. As the rain started to fall, Leclerc went on a spin and crashed against the barriers, damaging his front wing.

Re-joining the track from boxes he managed to climb from ninth to sixth place, but that was all. By then Max and Checo had crossed the finish line and were celebrating a 1-2 that reinstates their faith in themselves and their title bid.  

https://twitter.com/DAZN_ES/status/1518235219429535746

Images of Emilia Romagna GP 2022: Red Bull.

 

Leave a Reply