Verstappen wins sprint race at Imola after late overtaking | 1Limburg

As a result, Verstappen starts at the front on Sunday during the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix and is one point behind Leclerc in the World Cup standings.

Start
Verstappen started from pole position for the first time this season on the dry track in Italy after setting his fastest time in Friday’s soaking wet qualifying. Besides the Limburger, World Cup leader Charles Leclerc was on the front row. It was expected in advance that the start would be crucial and it was. Leclerc got off to a good start and was well past Verstappen before the first corner. The Limburger even had to work hard to keep Lando Norris behind. Lerclerc meanwhile managed to punch a hole.

safety car
Not much later that hole was undone by a crash of Zhou Guanyu. The damage was so extensive that a safety car had to come onto the track. At the restart, Leclerc had a good resumption of the race, not for the first time this season. He immediately managed to create a gap with Verstappen, as a result of which the Limburger did not drive in the DRS of the Monegask and was unable to place an attack.

Perez
Behind that, Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Pérez, managed to steam up to third place through some overtaking actions. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz also had to overtake, who crashed during qualifying and had to start from tenth place. The Spaniard eventually finished fourth.

Growing hole
At the front, the gap between Leclerc and Verstappen grew to more than 1.5 seconds, so that the battle for first place seemed to be over. However, Verstappen was able to close the gap and came within the DRS zone of the Monegask. The Limburger came on Leclerc’s tail three laps from the end and was able to place the first real attack at the start of the penultimate lap and pass Leclerc with the utmost effort.

Verstappen then quickly drove away from Leclerc and was able to win the sprint race and take the first starting position for Sunday’s race. Leclerc finished second to Pérez. In addition to the win, Verstappen will also be pleased that he was able to join Leclerc and pass the Ferarri driver at the end of the race.

World Cup standings
Due to the victory, Verstappen has also moved up a spot in the World Cup standings. Lewis Hamilton finished 14th and took no points, leaving Verstappen fifth in the standings with 33 points. World Cup leader Leclerc has 78 points.

sprint races
Just like last year, there are three sprint races in Formula 1. During a sprint race, one third of the usual race distance is driven. The result of the sprint race determines the starting order of Sunday’s race. In addition, there are World Cup points to earn. That is more than last year. Then the winning driver received three World Cup points, this year there are eight. Another change is that more drivers can earn points during the sprint race. Last year only the first three drivers received points, now they are the first eight drivers.

Live
The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix starts on Sunday at 3 p.m. and can be followed live on L1 Radio and in a live blog on 1Limburg.

Watch the L1 motorsport program Pitlane with a preview of the race: