Rome, April 23 (BNA): Max Verstappen beat Formula 1 leader Charles Leclerc on the penultimate lap to win the sprint race at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Saturday and reignite his season.
Verstappen started the sprint in pole position after taking pole in Friday’s qualifying, but the Red Bull driver was overtaken by Leclerc’s Ferrari once the lights went out, to the delight of ‘tifosi’.
But Verstappen persistently pursued Leclerc, sweeping out Ferrari to Tamborello and then blasting away to secure victory and first place on the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
He finished 2.975 seconds ahead of Leclerc and 4.721 ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, according to the Associated Press.
Verstappen’s only enemy point meant he was 45 behind Leclerc. However, Leclerc had already expanded his overall lead. He was 40 points ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., who beat Mercedes’ George Russell to take second place in the standings.
Sainz started the race in 10th place after Friday’s crash full of accidents but finished fourth, ahead of McLaren duo Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.
Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso and Mick Schumacher rounded out the top ten in the standings.
Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton will start 14th as Mercedes’ miserable weekend continues.
Leclerc has won two of the season’s three races, and is hoping to end Ferrari’s three-year wait for a home win – and at a circuit named after the Italian team’s founder and son: Enzo and Dino Ferrari.
Imola is back on the Formula 1 calendar in 2020 after a 14-year absence, but this is the first time in three editions that fans have been allowed in due to the coronavirus pandemic. Over 120,000 tickets were sold for the weekend.
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