Max Verstappen Wins the First Sprint Race of the 2022 Season

When the lights went green, Charles Leclerc (who started from P2) led after the first corner, after the Dutch driver had a terrible getaway. At the same time, Alpha Tauri driver Pierre Gasly and rookie Guanyu Zhou made contact, bringing the Safety Car out on the track.

At the restart on Lap five, Charles Leclerc led Verstappen and Norris. Carlos Sainz (who crashed out of qualifying on Friday) made it to seventh place after overtaking two-time world champion Fernando Alonso on Lap seven.

Going into the dying moments of the Sprint Race, Max Verstappen got into the Monegasque DRS range after the Ferrari began to suffer from tire degradation. Getting closer and closer, Max made his move in the penultimate lap, overtaking Charles on the run to the Tamburello chicane.

After that, he pulled away by almost three seconds to secure the points awarded for the winning driver in a Sprint Race. Remember that FIA changed the scoring system, with the top eight getting points instead of the top three. Carlos Sainz finished fourth after starting in P10, giving him more chances for the Grand Prix.

"My start was not very good, but I think we had a pretty decent pace; it took a while to try put the pressure on," said defending world champion Max Verstappen. "I think we were better on our tires at the end of the race I could get in the race so then I could get in the DRS, and we had a good fight into Turn 2 but it was fast – pushing quite a bit".

Check out the top ten finishers at the Emilia Romagna Sprint Race, stay tuned for more updates, and for the Grand Prix later in the day.

• 1.Max Verstappen Red Bull RB18 
•   2.Charles Leclerc Ferrari F1-75 
•   3.Sergio Perez Red Bull RB18 
•   4.Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari F1-75 
•   5.Lando Norris McLaren MCL36 
•   6.Daniel Ricciardo McLaren MCL36
•   7.Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo C42 
•   8.Kevin Magnussen Haas VF-22 
•   9.Fernando Alonso Alpine A522 
• 10.Mick Schumacher Haas VF-22