Mighty Max 💪

What a weekend it's been for the Dutchman #ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/5ckvUFCGJl

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 24, 2022

Max Verstappen won a dramatic wet-dry Emilia Romagna Grand Prix over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez—as Ferrari couldn’t deliver on home turf, with drivers swapping from rain tires inters, then mediums, and finally slicks as the track dried.

The Dutchman topped Saturday’s Sprint and led off the line on Sunday, teammate Perez joining him at the front. While Leclerc momentarily dropped to fourth, he recovered and moved up into P2 behind Verstappen after one lap of pit stops. The Safety Car emerged on the opening lap as Daniel Ricciardo tipped Carlos Sainz into the gravel and out of the race for the second Grand Prix in a row.

With the track drying, drivers began to swap from inters to mediums on Lap 19—Perez coming in before Verstappen, who led Leclerc into the pits one lap later. The Monegasque emerged just ahead of the Mexican, but Perez skated past for P2 with warmer tires and then kept the Ferrari at bay.

A podium finish slides away from Charles Leclerc 😖#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Y55Wplnb3V

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 24, 2022

A late gamble to pit for softs from P3 from Leclerc saw the Red Bulls follow suit and regain the lead, but on Lap 54 – again in chase of Perez – the championship leader spun and hit the wall at Variante Alta. He dropped to ninth, having had to pit for a new nose and softs, and recovered only to P6 at the flag.

Lando Norris, therefore, took the final podium place, promoted twice, with Sainz retiring and Leclerc going off track. Mercedes’ George Russell enjoyed a brilliant start. He was up seven spots to P4 as the chequered flag loomed, holding off Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas by under a second despite a late duel with the driver he replaced at the Silver Arrows.

Beached in the rain 😖

Carlos Sainz's race ended before it got started ❌#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/mESDZ5yOYm

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 24, 2022

Yuki Tsunoda finished seventh for AlphaTauri, passing Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (P8) late on – while Leclerc finished ahead of the pair with his late rescue effort.

Haas’s Kevin Magnussen ran as high as P5 thanks to another blistering start but fell back to ninth. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10, a double-points haul for the team that entered Imola on zero.

Alex Albon’s solid showing put him 11th, ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly – who couldn’t pry his way past even with DRS (which was activated when the track was deemed dry enough on Lap 34). Lewis Hamilton was. Next, the Mercedes driver was unceremoniously lapped by Verstappen on Lap 40 to finish 13th – Esteban Ocon finishing 11th but dropping to 14th thanks to a five-second penalty for an unsafe release.

After his Sprint crash, Zhou Guanyu started from the pit lane, the Alfa Romeo driver taking P15 ahead of Williams’ Nicholas Latifi. In 17th was Mick Schumacher, the Haas driver having spun twice on Sunday afternoon – while Daniel Ricciardo was last and 18th after his Lap 1 tangle with Sainz, pitting again for hards midway through the race in a fruitless strategy.

Along with Sainz, compatriot Fernando Alonso was the other DNF, having lost a chunk of his sidepod, Schumacher having lost control and hit the Alpine’s flanks on Lap 1.

Beached in the rain 😖

Carlos Sainz's race ended before it got started ❌#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/mESDZ5yOYm

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 24, 2022