Amazing edition with 130,000 spectators for the fourth round of the World Championship, back in the “heart” of Emilia-Romagna Motor Valley: Red Bull’s reigning championship was dominant from pole ahead of his teammate Perez and Norris (McLaren), while, after Sainz’s retirement at the start, Ferrari is only sixth with Leclerc
Imola (Italy), April 24, 2022. An extraordinary edition of the Grand Prix of Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna ended with the great crowd of Imola cheering in front of the podium celebrating race winner Max Verstappen of Red Bull, his teammate Sergio Perez and Lando Norris (McLaren). The fourth round of the Formula 1 World Championship has marked the return of the pinnacle of motorsport in the “heart” of Emilia-Romagna Motor Valley. After two editions with no public, the territory has responded perfectly to the call of an event that is already looking to the future, thanks to the organisation and partnerships between all the entities involved. The starting point is this year’s presence of 130,000 spectators and the confirmation that F1 will be held here until 2025, thanks to the decisive commitment of Automobile Club d’Italia, 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.
At the peak of this year’s three-day event, 2022 Grand Prix of Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna rewarded Verstappen with a perfect performance from pole position. Both Red Bulls made an excellent start in the wet, with everyone on intermediate tyres. Reigning world champion took the lead and held it until the finish line, managing well the pit stop to switch to slick tyres. At the end, after a second pit stop, the Dutch driver was also the author of the fastest lap of the race (1’18″446), just as Charles Leclerc and Ferrari was abandoning their chances of a podium finish. Verstappen, who took pole position on Friday and won the Sprint yesterday, scored his second consecutive win at Imola and his second in 2022.
On the podium it was a Red Bull 1-2 thanks to Perez. The Mexican driver overtook Leclerc at the start, with whom then fought for second place. Leclerc tried to change his strategy compared to the two front runners, but after a slow start and a good overtaking move on Norris, who had got behind the Red Bulls on the first lap, in the final forcing on Perez he spun at the Variante Alta, forcing him to make another pit stop, finishing the race in sixth place. So Norris took the third step of the podium for McLaren, just like last year. Consolation for Ferrari is the fact that Leclerc keeps on leading the World Championship with 86 points, now followed by Verstappen with 59 and Perez with 54.
Behind Verstappen, Perez and Norris, at Imola a brilliant fourth place was scored by George Russel in the first Mercedes to the finish line. The British driver was the author of a brilliant start that from 11th put him in the top-5 fight. Then, in the closing laps, he held off the comeback of Valtteri Bottas. The Finnish driver completed the top-5 on Alfa Romeo, ahead Leclerc. Even less fortunate was for the other Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver had to retire after just a few metres, ending up in the gravel of Tamburello after a contact with Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren, which dropped to last place.
Nice comeback for AlphaTauri and Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver, who lives just a few kilometres from the circuit, scored a convincing seventh place on his F1 debut at Imola after starting from 12th position. Behind Tsunoda, eighth and tenth place for the Aston Martins of Sebatian Vettel and Lance Stroll, while Kevin Magnussen is ninth for Haas. Alexander Albon (11th on Williams) and Pierre Gasly (12th on AlphaTauri) followed, while seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was only 13th on Mercedes, ahead of Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Guanyu Zhou (who started from the pits on Alfa Romeo), Nicholas Latifi (Willliams), Mick Schumacher (Haas) and Ricciardo. For Schumacher the race was compromised by a collision with Fernando Alonso at the start, as a result of which the son of 7-time world champion Michael lost several positions, while the Alpine driver was forced to retire a few laps later.
“This Grand Prix represents a memorable achievement – said Angelo Sticchi Damiani, President of Automobile Club d’Italia –, obtained thanks to the extraordinary commitment of ACI and the precious support of all the national and local institutions. A great success because we are the only European country that can host two GPs; because today we raced for the third time in 18 months at Imola; because the appointment with F1 in Emilia-Romagna will be repeated at least until 2025. A success objectively assessed by the huge number of spectators, always cheering despite Ferrari have missed the podium. All this consolidates the foundations of a unique synergy, the one between Imola and Monza, to the advantage of Italian sport”.
Gian Carlo Minardi, president of Formula Imola: “The return of the spectators, seeing the Rivazza hill full with all those flags and then the spectacular peaceful invasion on track, was a thrilling feeling. It’s just a shame about the result, because it would have been great if Ferrari supporters could have cheered a Ferrari on the podium. There is great satisfaction for the organisational result, we have shown once again that Imola deserves to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix. This weekend has been an extraordinary picture not only for our territory but also for Italy, because we have shown once again that we know how to do things and do them well. Personally, I am particularly happy for the praise received from all those who are part of the team that has built this extraordinary new history of this track and I can assure you that from tomorrow we will already be working to improve further the organisation of the event”.
