Imola

World champion won the right to lead Saturday's 21-lap dash to decide P1, while Lewis Hamilton criticised his mishandling Mercedes after only managing 13th.

Leclerc set the pace on his opening hot lap in Q3, mighty through the second and third sectors but he was only two-hundredths clear of Verstappen with a time of 1min 28.778sec. Pole gives Verstappen the chance to claw back points in the title fight which Leclerc leads on 71, with the world champion, who has retired twice this season, in sixth on 25. The drivers kept lapping as the clock ticked down and Verstappen pipped his rival with a 1min 27.999sec lap just before another red flag as Valtteri Bottas ground to a halt on track. It really punishes you if you make a mistake you can go in the wall. By its close Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had earned “pole position” but such is the equally painful structuring of this format, while his pole counts statistically in the record books it is only for Saturday’s sprint race which will decide the literal pole for Sunday’s GP. Hamilton only narrowly made it into Q2 and finished in 13th place with his teammate George Russell in 11th.

Toto Wolff says Mercedes' porpoising problem during first practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was so severe that a floor stay broke on George ...

“Their porpoising looks a little bit different to ours,” Wolff assessed. The stays attempt to stiffen the floors that are flexing and stalling at top speed, which leads to porpoising. Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after FP1 had finished, Wolff said “we had George bouncing so much that he actually broke the stay on the floor.

Formula One champion Max Verstappen has earned his first pole position of the season after an incident-packed qualifying session for the sprint race at the ...

Ferrari dominated practice and again looked like the team to beat after a one-two in the session. The passionate “tifosi” have been packing out the circuit in their red-colored droves this weekend, with more than 120,000 tickets sold. Instead of the usual three practices to get to grips with the car, there was only one practice followed by qualifying on Friday for Saturday’s sprint. Qualifying was also stopped with three minutes remaining following an incident for Bottas as Verstappen went quickest. We will work as hard as we can to move up in the sprint race. We’ll try to put everything together tomorrow and after tomorrow.”

Formula One world champion Max Verstappen took his first pole position of the season on Friday in a wet and crash-interrupted Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ...

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com "There's everything to play for tomorrow and after tomorrow and we'll give everything," he said.

Charles Leclerc finished second in qualifying by 0.779s to Max Verstappen, and Ferrari's championship leader was left ruing a lost chance at pole position ...

“This is why it is frustrating for me, because when it [counted], in Q3, I made the wrong choice, but it’s life: we will learn from it, and at the end P2 is not a disaster. Q1, Q2 was all about trying to put a lap together to go to Q3 and then push a bit more, but it was a very tricky session overall, and then in… After that stoppage, Leclerc was left with one last chance to overhaul Verstappen – but track conditions proved challenging and Lando Norris effectively ended qualifying early by spinning out at the very end.

By Alan Baldwin IMOLA, Italy (Reuters) - Formula One world champion Max Verstappen put Red Bull on pole position in a wet and crash-interrupted Emilia...

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes underperformed during qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but won't reveal the details of a tense exchange he had ...

It is disappointing. “Naturally, it is disappointing. “We’ve always struggled a little bit to get the temperature into the tire and we’re always seemingly taking a bigger jump on the second lap,” he said.

Carlos Sainz felt he wasn't pushing hard prior to his Imola Formula 1 qualifying crash which he fears will cost him “quite a lot” through the rest of the ...

The car surprised me in that corner, [and] I missed it. Sainz said the target at Imola was now “to move forward and try and rescue some good points” over the sprint race and grand prix. Sainz acknowledged the damage on his car “looked bad” after the shunt and that it was “not going to be easy for the guys tonight” to get the repairs completed.

Remarkably Friday's Formula 1 qualifying session in Imola was the first time since Japan 2012 that Mercedes did not have a car in Q3.

“So the remit of the power unit people is to focus on that, and look at any fine tuning that we can do to find gains. “That doesn't stop us looking at what we can do within the modes, and how we can use those better, and whether there is anything more we can gain in how we're deploying the modes that are available. “We're constantly doing analysis on that,” says Shovlin. “There's areas that we think we can improve in terms of managing the deployment. “But as an aside, we're still working hard to try and understand, get on top and solve the bouncing. “To be honest both of them are annoying issues at the moment,” Shovlin admitted. We just didn't have the grip that we needed to be quick.” “Lewis would have liked to have stayed out on one of the runs earlier on,” he said. One is, could we could we have run the earlier part of the session better? But we should be able to perform in the same position that we're racing, which is realistically third-quickest team.” “And we've not got to the bottom of it. “As I said, we still need to understand why we can't match some of the mid-grid teams, even. As I said, we don't know whether there's something else in terms of how we're setting the car up, or how we're approaching the way that we're generating heat in the tyres.

Franco Colapinto took his, and Van Amersfoort Racing's first win in FIA F3 in a chaotic Sprint Race at Imola.

Reece Ushijima and Federico Malvestiti tangled as David Schumacher went off on Lap 13 to bring the safety car back out again. During the resulting safety car period, Kush Maini received a drive-through penalty for starting outside his grid box. The Campos Racing driver joined him in a separate incident several seconds later.

Franco Colapinto took victory in a dramatic FIA Formula 3 sprint race in Imola after snatching back the lead on the final lap.

The lights went green again on lap 17, with Collet holding onto the lead from Colapinto, before Arthur Leclerc wiped out the 150-metre board at the exit of Villeneuve, prompting a virtual safety car. Hadjar took fourth from Martins at Tamburello on Lap 4, before passing Maini for third at the Villeneuve chicane three laps later. Colapinto held on to second place throughout, before he was able to regain the lead from Collet after the virtual safety car ended on the final tour.

Formula 1 world championship leader Charles Leclerc says the wrong run plan choice for qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix left him unhappy to be ...

So let’s keep pushing but for now we have the potential to do so [win].” We'll learn from it and, at the end, P2 is not a disaster.” So it is like this.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Formula 1 sprint event to take pole position for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix after a fantastic duel with Ferrari's ...

Leclerc led Verstappen and Norris at the restart on Lap 5. Going into the final five laps, Verstappen got into Leclerc’s DRS range as the Ferrari began get encounter some tyre graining. 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix sprint fastest laps

Max Verstappen won the first Sprint of 2022 having passed Charles Leclerc with two laps remaining, to ensure a first-place start for Sunday's Emilia Romagna ...

The championship leader skated away, Verstappen in tow. Green-flag racing would resume on Lap 5, Leclerc leading Verstappen then Norris at the time. Friday's wet qualifying session set the grid for this Sprint, Verstappen having taken pole position over Leclerc with Lando Norris leading Kevin Magnussen off the second row. Gearbox issues put Esteban Ocon 19th for the start of the Sprint and he made up three places for P16 in the Alpine, keeping Gasly – who collided with Zhou at the start and pitted for a nose change – 17th. Magnussen held on for the final point, finishing ahead of Alpine's Fernando Alonso in P9 – who started fifth but couldn't contend with his rivals' pace on the softs – and the other Haas of Mick Schumacher, who took P10 on mediums. It was Leclerc, to a rapturous reception from the tifosi, who took the lead off Verstappen as the lights went out – only for the Safety Car to interrupt proceedings as Zhou Guanyu (DNF) and Pierre Gasly (P19) made contact through Turn 9 on Lap 1.

Mercedes Formula 1 chief Toto Wolff has admitted the Emilia Romagna GP weekend is a write-off for the team after George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were ...

"It has clearly been a difficult weekend for us, and we probably overachieved in the first few races. That will give us an opportunity to fight and move up the grid but I am sure we'll understand a bit more tonight, but it is going to be tricky. The race just isn't long enough to get some tyre degradation there and have some differences between the drivers and the cars, but we have got work to do.

Lewis Hamilton wrote off his hopes of winning a record eighth Formula One world championship this year after falling 50 points adrift of Ferrari's Charles ...

"It was basically the same point of view and just sheer anger," he said. "That's all we can hope for right now." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

IMOLA, Italy (AP) — Max Verstappen overtook Formula One leader Charles Leclerc on the penultimate lap to win the sprint race at the Emilia-Romagna Grand ...

The main race is tomorrow and we need to make sure that we are ready. More than 120,000 tickets have been sold for the weekend. “We haven’t got it right this year but everyone is working hard as they can to correct it,” Hamilton said. That’s all we can hope for right now.” “We struggled with the tyres at the end, so we need to analyse that for tomorrow. I don’t know exactly what happened or why it was so bad but after that we had to stay calm,” Verstappen said.

Marcus Armstrong took the second FIA Formula 2 victory of his career in Imola's sprint race, snatching the lead off the line before holding on to the ...

As racing resumed on lap five, Armstrong continued to fend off Daruvala and Hauger, the Norwegian seemingly untroubeld by a loose sidepod cover. Armstrong held firm to take his first win since the first Jeddah sprint race in 2021 by 1.4 seconds over Daruvala, the Kiwi moving up to fifth in the standings as a result and just three points behind Daruvala in third. The Hitech driver passed polesitter Logan Sargeant at the start and managed to hold off the quick-running Jehan Daruvala to take his first win of the season.

Charles Leclerc saw victory slip away in the Sprint at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and says tire issues were to blame as Max Verstappen overtook him late ...

It’s like this but it’s only the sprint race and we’ll learn from this to be better tomorrow.” “At the end, the main race is tomorrow and we need to make sure we are ready. “We struggled with the tires at the end, so we need to analyze that for tomorrow,” Leclerc said.

There were disrupted sessions for McLaren and Alfa Romeo on Saturday at Imola, but Mercedes leapt to the top of the timing screens with George Russell.

Another driver to miss out on running was McLaren F1 Team’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the team removing his power unit as they investigated a problem. Zhou Guanyu completed the top ten for Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN as team-mate Valtteri Bottas sat out the session with more mechanical issues. Charles Leclerc, who will start on the front row for Saturday’s Sprint race.

Marcus Armstrong took his second FIA Formula 2 victory at Imola, snatching the lead off the line before holding on to the chequered flag.

The front three had built up a five-second gap to Nissany in fourth place by the halfway point, with the Israeli driver holding off Sargeant and Drugovich. Championship leader Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport) started in 12th after a poor qualifying on Friday, but had made it up to seventh by the end of the first lap, while feature race polesitter Juri Vips (Hitech) ran wide, dropping him to the back of the pack. There was a first-lap safety car after David Beckmann, driving in place of an injured Cem Bolukbasi at Charouz, went off at the Tamburello melee, while Clement Novalak suffered a broken front wing on his MP Motorsport car after he was unable to avoid the supersub’s spin.

World champion will start P1 on Sunday and claimed championship eight points, while Lewis Hamilton struggled with his Mercedes and will begin in 14th.

With the victory Verstappen has secured pole for Sunday a potentially vital achievement at Imola where overtaking is difficult. It was a bravura move, perfectly executed and the sort of racing the sprint race has long needed. He was third several laps later, an impressive run and vital for Red Bull so he can play his part in the race tomorrow. Max Verstappen won the sprint race for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola and in doing so secured pole for Sunday’s race. Out front however while Leclerc was in control, Verstappen closed in the final four laps to within a second. Both Hamilton and Russell struggled to make any headway through the field, unsurprisingly with a tricky can on a track where overtaking is far from easy.

Lewis Hamilton wasn't exactly thrilled after qualifying 13th on Friday evening at Imola, but after finishing 14th in Saturday's Sprint his woes were only ...

“We’re faced with this issue, there’s nothing I can do. well I lost positions, so it wasn’t a rescue. “Well, I lost points…

Sport Desk, Apr 23 (EFE).- Red Bull's Max Verstappen snatched pole position for Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola after winning Saturday's sprint race ...

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen will start Sunday’s Grand Prix from P8 ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in P9 and Haas’ Mick Schumacher, who completes the top 10. Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo will start from P5 and P6 in the McLarens ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo. The Dutchman, who started from pole in the 21 lap sprint format, regained P1 from the Monegasque at the tail-end of the session.

Charles Leclerc reckons he can retaliate against Max Verstappen and “fight for the win” in Formula 1's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix if Ferrari can “cure” its ...

If not, it's going to be a bit more difficult.” “I tried to push at the beginning to get a bit of a gap and for Max to not be in the DRS zone because I knew that I would have been vulnerable if it was the case. “But I paid the price a little bit later on in the race and had some graining and then really struggled in the last two, three laps.”

Zhou Guanyu will start the Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from the pitlane after Alfa Romeo repaired his car under parc ferme conditions following his ...

Furthermore, in breach of Article 40.9, the Competitor was found to have continued to work on the car unsupervised while under parc ferme conditions. “The Competitor admitted that modifications were made to the car. The incident was referred to the FIA stewards who have penalised Zhou with a pitlane start for Sunday’s grand prix.