Verstappen completed his big hit with Ferrari at Imola; Sainz and Alonso, show

Max Verstappen his great coup ended. Only a few bet on him before the weekend starts on F1 Emilia Romagna GP 2022. ferrari, with more downforce and reliable cars, came with Leclerc as leader and favorite. Italian fans filled the red stands and glanced at the double. There, in the wicked lands, Max Verstappen finished his great work. A priori, with all against them from the start, the reigning champion was able to raid the Italian square and steal the most valuable jewel from those from Maranello, just 70 kilometers from the Ferrari factory, in front of their eyes, in style the best. thief wearing white gloves, like George Clooney in Ocean’s’ Trilogy. Max stole the joy from Ferrari fans with a Unique Grand Chelem: took the win, fastest lap, led all laps, took pole position on Friday, and took the sprint race on Saturday. Historical.

All this, including a Red Bull that this time did not disappoint him. Max completed double more than necessary for him and for Milton Keynes including second place for Perez, knocked down the morale of a Ferrari where everything was backwards. Sainz left on the first lap because of a hit by Ricciardo and Leclerc, when he was third, went to the wall and tapos 6th. Verstappen started the weekend 46 points behind Charles. He finished it at just 27 with two retirements in 4 races. There’s a World Cup, a lot of World Cups, and Verstappen and Red Bull seem to have reacted.

For Ferrari, things started badly in the beginning because of Sainz’s qualifying accident and Leclerc’s second position because he didn’t complete his last test in Q3 because of a red flag. The ‘tifosi’ jumped for joy when Leclerc defeated Max at the start of the sprint race and due to the massive return from the Spaniard. But this is just a mirage. Red Bull proved to have a reaction to the champion, what they needed to show that they were alive in the fight for everyone. The group of energy drinks did their homework and corrected their mistakes in Australia: The car held up and was reliable after two retirements in three races that added Verstappen. And besides, he cared more about the tires than the Ferrari, something Max complained about in Melbourne.

Things got complicated for the Maranello residents after seeing how Verstappen ate Charles with two laps to go to the sprint appointment on Saturday, erasing the smile on the faces of transalpine fans. But this Sunday, everyone dreamed again as they looked up at the sky. The rain could give Ferrari the chance they were hoping for.

Abandonment dominated Sainz and Red Bull

However, the water subsided and, starting with intermediate tire conditions, luck was also not on the side of the Italians. The day started badly for Ferrari on the side of a Carlos who was again punished by the mistakes of others. In Australia he failed. As well as qualifying. But after his great return to the sprint race, he wanted to end the weekend on a positive note and Ricciardo stopped him. Carlos makes a mistake, Norris passes him and Ricciardo is placed in parallel. And there, the ‘aussie’ played the interior piano, the car disappeared and Carlos played, leading him to spin and get stuck in the gravel. Sainz’s second consecutive abandonment further pushes him away from the head.

Verstappen retains its leading position, and Perez happened to Leclerc at startup. Everything went wrong for that ferrari. At the back of ‘Safety Vehicle’ due to Carlos’ incident, Charles was unable to react. He tried it on the last pit dance when the track started to dry out. Charles came out on the tarmac ahead of a Pérez who had stopped a lap earlier. But the Mexican had a warmer tire and regained second place. The world leader stays with Pérez, but he cannot be reached. If he leaves on the dry road to speed up braking and overtake, it could cost him dearly. There he acted with the maturity of a champion. He did not venture the slightest. He knew that with his 45-point lead over Max at the top of the standings, the smart thing to do was minimize injury.

Leclerc’s big mistake

For this reason, it is strange that Leclerc acted in the opposite way after a while. He tried to attack desperately with an ‘undercut’ on lap 50, stopping before Pérez. But the two Red Bulls had no choice, copying that strategy to defend themselves. Nor would the sky help Ferrari with more rain and there Leclerc had to take his third place for granted, but he made a round where he climbed the wall, damaging his front wing. As a result, he went through the pits and started ninth on the track. He was able to return to sixth place, but he knew he had lost points he might have needed by the end of the course.

Beyond Ferrari’s bad luck, the fact is that Red Bull deserved the jackpot, in a car with more speed, it prevailed strongly. Will this be proof that Red Bull can definitely compete with Ferrari for the title? The answer will come with the consistency and reliability that the RB18 will show in subsequent races. Next appointment, Miami. And then comes Barcelona, ​​where many will bring improvements.

Russell, fourth and Hamilton, sank

George Russell completed another great weekend in person with a Mercedes very difficult to pilot. He took advantage of his chances and finished in fourth position, touching the podium Norris. The fourth place of the former de Williamsas Lewis Hamilton can only be 13th, suffering hard after a gasly which he could not overcome throughout the race. Third consecutive appointment where George is ahead of Lewis, and first where the 7-time champion fails to score. Among the appointments where Lewis reached the finish line and did not leave, this was the first he had finished out of points since the 2013 Spanish GP (on that day he was 12th).

Abandonment of Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso continued his first bad streak. This time it wasn’t because of the reliability of his Alpine. This time, his race took two curves. Mick Schumacher turned around and grabbed the right side of the vehicle from Oviedo using the back of his vehicle. From there, the Spaniard suddenly lost position and the right pontoon flew away. Fernando had to retire for the third time in five races, a result far from equal to the potential of his car and the hands of the Spaniard.