Schumacher’s bet doesn’t work out
Verstappen hits back after Leclerc’s super start
4/23/2022, 5:03 p.m
At the Ferrari home game in Imola, the Scuderia dominance of the early Formula 1 season wobbles. After winning qualifying, Max Verstappen also beat world championship leader Charles Leclerc in the sprint. Sebastian Vettel, on the other hand, loses places and also stops Mick Schumacher’s hunt for points.
World champion Max Verstappen won the first sprint of the Formula 1 season and thus secured first place on the grid for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. At the Ferrari home game, the Red Bull star from the Netherlands reached the finish line in Imola after 21 laps ahead of Scuderia star Charles Leclerc, who had overtaken him at the start in a superior manner, and his Mexican team-mate Sergio Perez.
Verstappen got eight championship points. Leclerc is still clearly leading the championship with 78 points before the fourth race of the season on Sunday (3 p.m. / RTL and in the live ticker on ntv.de). Verstappen has 33 points.
Former world champion Sebastian Vettel finished 13th in the Aston Martin and missed his first points of the season, as did Mick Schumacher im Haas, who finished tenth. After his successful performance in qualifying, which was characterized by rainy conditions, Vettel started from ninth place, but was ultimately passed down the field. Unlike the vast majority of teams, Schumacher had opted for medium tires and speculated that the competition would reduce the softs – but this did not happen, so that eighth place and thus the first World Cup point remain out of reach.
The short race of around 100 kilometers also went uncountable for series constructors’ world champion Mercedes: record champion Lewis Hamilton did not get past 14th place, his new teammate George Russell raced to the finish in eleventh place. The classification of the sprint determines the starting order for the main race.
Formula 1 has significantly upgraded the sprint format this year. The winner now receives eight instead of three World Championship points, and there are points for the first eight drivers to cross the finish line. This means that the sprints – more are planned for Spielberg and São Paulo – are also gaining in importance for the title fight.