In the fourth round of the World Championship Saturday’s 21-lap race rewards the Red Bull driver, who will be first on the grid for Sunday’s GP. He will be followed by Leclerc (Ferrari) and his teammate Perez, today second and third respectively. Great enthusiasm from fans, while the circuit got from FIA the Three Star Environmental Accreditation
Imola (Italy), April 23, 2022. At the top of the excitement, the Grand Prix of Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna reaches its peak tomorrow at 3.00 pm. At Imola the traffic lights will go out to start the fourth round of the Formula 1 World Championship. First position on the starting grid for Max Verstappen on Red Bull, winner of the 21-lap Sprint Race after a thrilling duel with Charles Leclerc in front of an enthusiastic crowd. And now an even biggest crowd is expected for the final day of such a great event, which has come back to the “heart” of the Emilia-Romagna “Motor Valley” thanks to the decisive commitment of Automobile Club d’Italia and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Mobility, ICE, the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Municipality of Imola and Con.Ami and the agreement with Liberty Media.
After qualifying on Friday, this new Formula 1 format with the Sprint on Saturday brought some strong emotions in the “mini Grand Prix” held today’s afternoon. A part from the first position on the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix, Verstappen also got 8 points. At the start, Leclerc overtook his rival and world champion thanks to a great start, leading until the penultimate lap, when the current championship leader had to surrender to Verstappen’s attack on the outside of Tamburello. The Dutchman of Red Bull has regained the first place, while the Ferrari driver had to settle for second place and 7 points, followed by Sergio Perez, third at the finish line with the other Red Bull and protagonist of a great comeback from seventh place with the fastest lap (1’19″012). After yesterday’s off-track in qualifying, Carlos Sainz also made a comeback from tenth place on the grid. After a brilliant series of overtakings, the Ferrari driver took fourth place ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris, who completed the top-5 ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Completing the Sprint top-10 were Valtteri Bottas, seventh in the Alfa Romeo, Kevin Magnussen, eighth in the Haas, Fernando Alonso, ninth in the first of the Alpine cars, and Mick Schumacher in the other Haas. The son of seven-time world champion Michael took tenth place overtaking Seb Vettel, who finished 13th in the Aston Martin. Only 11th and 14th the Mercedes cars of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, with Yuki Tsunoda able to slot into 12th place on AlphaTauri. Behind Hamilton, 15th position for Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) ahead of Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Pierre Gasly. The French driver of AlphaTauri had to climb from the back of the field after a puncture on the first lap following initial contact with Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), that ended up against the barriers in the Acque Minerali area. With Zhou retired and therefore last on the GP grid, 18th and 19th place for the Williams of Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi.
With about 130,000 tickets sold, Imola weekend will end on Sunday for all the other racing series in action as well (Formula 2, Formula 3 and Porsche Supercup), while the Autodromo “Enzo e Dino Ferrari” has obtained from FIA the certification for the third level environmental, the highest level that can be obtained. So the circuit is proud to be one of the few circuits to have achieved first the ISO 20121:2013 certification and now the FIA Environmental Accreditation. A sustainable achievement that ACI president Angelo Sticchi Damiani commented: “For the Autodromo ‘Enzo e Dino Ferrari’ and Formula Imola this 2022 will remain a memorable season. After the confirmation in the Formula 1 World Championship calendar until 2025, for which Automobile Club d’Italia has successfully fought, and the amazing result in ticket sales, today comes yet another international recognition for the circuit. Result that awards the extraordinary effort by Gian Carlo Minardi and his whole team, which is the result of the great collaboration with the territory and in particular with the Autodrome and Environment Departments of the Municipality of Imola, Formula Imola and Con.Ami”.
