Max Verstappen has won the first sprint race of 2022 after overtaking Charles Leclerc in a dramatic late-race duel. Sergio Perez made it two Red Bull drivers in the top 3, while Carlos Sainz recovered from yesterday’s qualifying well to take 4th.
Early drama
There was a tense moment as Alonso didn’t get off the on the formation lap immediately. He was able to start 5th.
The Tifosi were out in force, willing their championship-leading team on.
It was a superb start for Leclerc, storming into the lead off the line. Norris and Magnussen held their positions, but Alonso fell back. The Mercedes also bogged down with both drivers losing positions. Sainz was able to climb up two positions from the start alone.
The first lap would finish under the safety car however, as Zhou crashed hard after turning in on Gasly. Gasly would make it to the pits, but Zhou’s race was over.
Sensational Sprint battles
It was a relatively brief safety car period, ending on lap 4.
Leclerc was able to get away well, unchallenged from Verstappen. There were no immediate changes, but Alonso almost lost 7th to Sainz after a brief squirm through turn 2.
Magussen was given the black and white flag for a weaving incident against Perez on lap 1.
DRS was enabled on lap 7, but before Sainz could even use it, he blasted past Alonso on the straight. Next up was Perez, snatching 4th from Magnussen with his DRS wide open.
The battle for 5th was a fascinating one. On lap 10, Sainz found himself right behind both Ricciardo and Magnussen. Ricciardo was the first to make a move with a tight overtake into turn 1. Sainz soon followed suit and Magnussen’s choice of the medium tyre appeared to be the wrong choice.
Up front, Perez deftly found his was past Norris to make it a Red Bull 2-3. Just behind, Sainz climbed to 5th with a DRS overtake on Ricciardo and would later get Norris for 4th, a sterling drive.
On lap 17, Verstappen was finally able to break into Leclerc’s DRS. The Ferrari was showing mild graining, while the Red Bull had taken better care of it’s tyres. This led to numerous laps in which Verstappen was just edging closer to the lead. But it was on lap 20 that he finally took the lead with the overtake of the race into turn 1. Verstappen would even break out of DRS with a superb lap time. He would finish the race almost 3s clear of Leclerc.
Point scoring Results:
- Verstappen
- Leclerc +2.975
- Perez + 4.721
- Sainz +17.578
- Norris + 24.561
- Ricciardo +27.740
- Bottas +28.133
- Magnussen +30.712
So, the appetite is whetted after a sensational sprint race. Verstappen has taken first blood, but significantly more points are on offer tomorrow.
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
