Charles Leclerc and Ferrari target two F1 records at Imola | 2022 Emilia Romagna GP. Charles on the brink of smashing two F1 records.

Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc is ready to continue the strong start to the 2022 Formula 1 season and is looking forward to capitalizing on the strengths of the F1-75 car to give fans a memorable weekend at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. But apart from the emotional weekends that awats Charles in Italy, the Ferrari driver has a good chance to leave Imola having broken two Formula 1 records, if his Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend lives up to the expectations.

The Monegasque driver is currently leading the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship after the first three races, with a solid 34-point lead ahead of George Russell (Mercedes), with his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz in third. Charles took two stunning race wins this year, in Bahrain and Australia, which has seen him pocket 71 points from a possible 78 so far. The Imola weekend will take place based on the new F1 Sprint format, which means there is the potential for Charles Leclerc to add more than ever to his tally.

If everything goes according to plan, the Monegasque driver could hold the most points ever after four rounds of a Formula 1 season (105), along with the most commanding lead (43+ points). The current record belongs to former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg who took four victories in the opening rounds of the 2016 Formula 1 season and as a result had a 43-point advantage over his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton with 105 points to his name.

This exceptionally-high points tally – and record – was helped by the changes which were made over a decade ago to the Formula One points-scoring system, as the sport decided to award 25 points to the winner, 18 for second, 15 for third, then 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1 for fourth to tenth. The technical and sporting regulations applicable for the season were the subject of much debate at that time.

Starting with the 2019 championship, a new rule was introduced in order to encourage to push hard in the final stages of the Grand Prix and attempt to take the fastest lap of the race, for which an extra point was awarded, but only if they finished in the top ten at the end of the race. Now thanks to the F1 Sprint format, which from this year has changed its points system, Charles Leclerc has more points than ever before available to him during the first four race weekends of 2022.

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DRIVERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AFTER FOUR RACES (SINCE 2010)

*If Charles wins the F1 Sprint, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and completes the fastest lap of the race.

Since the current points-scoring system was introduced, only five times has a driver boasted a points lead greater than 15 after the first four events of a new F1 campaign. The positive news for Charles is that on all five occasions, that driver went on to win the Formula 1 title. However, only four times the driver proved uncatchable, as Nico Rosberg lost his huge advantage during the season and was actually overtaked by Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings in 2016, before the German driver eventually hit back and regained the top spot in the final stages of the championship.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has the potential to break Rosberg’s record at the Imola circuit in just a few days, in case the Monegasque will have a perfect weekend in front of the Tifosi, who are ready to support Charles on his way to glory. However, one other way to look at things is that given the 34 points up for grabs represents the exact gap which Charles has in front of the World Championship, a bad weekend at Imola and a failure to score in the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix could see his entire advantage wiped out.