After such heavy rain and with standing water on the track, conditions were a big, big talking point ahead of lights out for the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola. It was a wets vs inters decision for everbody.
Charles Leclerc’s first outlap at Imola was on full wets, but the Monegasque driver then switched over to intermediates for the start of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, just like his Maranello teammate Carlos Sainz. After the pre-race flyover and a passionately sung Italian national anthem, we were ready for the formation lap. As more rain was forecast to fall during the race, it remained to be seen whether this weekend’s slick tyre options would actually be used this afternoon.
Unfortunately it was an awful start for Ferrari: Charles Leclerc lost two positions to Sergio Perez and Lando Norris, while Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo clashed and the Ferrari F1-75 was off the track and beached in the gravel trap! The Spanish driver was ahead of Daniel Ricciardo on the way into Turn 2, but the McLaren failed to stop and the contact spun Carlos into the gravel.
With his Red Bull team-mate behind him, Max Verstappen comfortably held the lead at the restart. Charles Leclerc got very close to Lando Norris behind them, but couldn’t get past him just yet. After three more laps, the Monegasque driver passed Lando Norris for third and tried to recover the ground to Red Bull. Charles got the move done under braking into Turn One, braking much later than the McLaren amid the spray.
Charles’ lap times were on par with the Red Bulls ahead of him, as the sole remaining Ferrari was three seconds behind Sergio Perez, with leader Max Verstappen almost five seconds further ahead. Several drivers then came in for slick tyres, and one of them was the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, as Charles stayed out on intermediates for one more lap. The Ferrari driver emerged from the pits ahead of Sergio Perez, but with the Red Bull’s tyres in better shape the Mexican got past him almost immediately.
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Charles Leclerc asked his engineer whether it was worth considering a change of strategy, but was told it’s not worth the risk. However, with 12 laps to go, the Monegasque driver pitted and momentarily lost third to Lando Norris, but was able to comfortably reclaim third with his much fresher tyres. Unfortunately, Charles hit the barrier and was forced to come into the pits with damage to his front wing. The Ferrari driver passed Magnussen, Vettel and Tsunoda in the final few laps of the race to finish P6. Damage limitation after his crash but a very disappointing Sunday for Ferrari in front of the Tifosi.
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