Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed pole position for 2022 Emilia Romagna Sprint Qualifying at Imola.
Wet conditions caused chaos across Practice and Qualifying in the first Sprint Weekend of the 2022 season as Charles Leclerc prevailed in FP1, before Verstappen overcame five red flags in Qualifying to secure pole position ahead of the championship leader.
McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the top three qualifiers ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso on a day where the rain proved the biggest obstacle for all 20 drivers beyond just the tricky track layout in Imola.
Now here is a full roundup of all the drama across FP1 and Qualifying.
FP1
Following heavy rainfall throughout the morning, all ten teams were greeted with difficult conditions as Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was first out on track, albeit four minutes into the session as everyone initially opted for the wet tyre.
Verstappen proceeded to set the initial pace in the opening 20 minutes as he until Leclerc went quickest with 1m 35.629, which was usurped by Sergio Perez four minutes later as the Mexican went fastest with 1m 35.476 just before more rain briefly fell.
Once the shower had passed across the circuit, everyone slowly switched their running to the intermediate tyre with Aston Martin first to send both drivers out on the intermediate tyres.
Nobody however was able to initially trouble Perez’s lap time until Carlos Sainz went top with 1m 33.716 in the 40th minute, as he and Leclerc proceeded to trade the fastest lap times which the latter eventually won out with 1m 29.402 set nine minutes from the session’s conclusion.
Verstappen however encountered Nicholas Latifi during his intermediate tyre run but was able to salvage third ahead of Magnussen and Mick Schumacher at the checkered flag, with only Lewis Hamilton failing to improve on the intermediate tyre as he finished 18th quickest..
Several drivers including Leclerc however endured various spins throughout the session with only McLaren’s Lando Norris causing a brief red flag, as he stalled at Acque Minerali with just five minutes left in the session but was able to continue unaided.
Bottas then spun post-session at Piratella and beached his Alfa Romeo in the gravel trap but escaped with little damage.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 29.402 |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.877 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 1.465 |
| 4 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 3.037 |
| 5 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 3.586 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 3.610 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 3.758 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 4.209 |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 4.860 |
| 10 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 4.860 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 5.213 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 5.702 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 6.018 |
| 14 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 6.100 |
| 15 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 6.223 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 6.631 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 7.059 |
| 18 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 7.062 |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 8.048 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 10.296 |
Qualifying
Q1
Uncertainty over track conditions saw a mixture of tyre strategies for opening runs as some teams opted for soft slick tyres, whilst others favoured intermediate tyres but it was those who were on soft tyres who won out as Lance Stroll went top with 1m 23.419.
Williams’ Alex Albon caused a red flag six minutes into the session after his rear brakes caught alight and blew debris across Variante Alta.
Once the session resumed 11 minutes later, everyone ran the rest of Q1 on soft tyres with enough fuel until end of session as Hamilton constantly flirted with the elimination zone, as he eventually escaped by just 0.004 seconds as Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly were knocked out in 16th and 17th respectively.
Latifi meanwhile qualified 18th fastest after surviving a late spin ahead of Esteban Ocon who failed to set a final flier, after he was summoned back to the pits with a gearbox issue just minutes from the checkered flag.
Q2
News of incoming rain forced drivers to quickly head out once the light went green to get a guaranteed banker lap in on soft tyres.
Verstappen set the initial pace after the opening round of fliers with a lap time of 1m 18.793 whilst the elimination zone compromised of; George Russell, Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Guanyu Zhou and Stroll.
Sainz then caused a red flag just four minutes and 18 seconds into the session after he spun off at Rivazza, which ruined any chance of anyone posting a second flier.
The rain then intensified during the stoppage to prevent any improvement throughout the rest of Q2 which resumed nine minutes later, which meant that no Mercedes driver reached Q3 for the first time since the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel led Fernando Alonso, Leclerc, Lando Norris, Perez and Bottas out for late exploratory laps in the now damp conditions to gather data ready for Q3.
Q3
As soon as the pit exit lights went green, Perez led the field straight out on intermediate tyres amidst easing rainfall, although the red flag was out just four minutes into the session as Magnussen spun at Acque Minerali but recovered to the pits unaided.
Only Verstappen and Norris had posted lap times prior to the stoppage which led to a frantic dash out of the pitlane as everyone looked to get in a banker lap, with Alonso being the first driver back out on track.
Once the opening round of fliers were completed, Leclerc headed Verstappen by just 0.020s ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, although only Verstappen improved on his second flier to set a provisional pole time of 1m 27.999 under yellow flags as Bottas stopped on the run towards Rivazza with an issue to cause another red flag.
With 2m and 58s left on the clock, more rain began to fall during the stoppage with the session resuming 14 minutes later, as Verstappen clung on for pole ahead of Leclerc, Norris, Magnussen, Alonso, Ricciardo, Perez, Bottas, Vettel and Sainz.
Norris however caused the fifth and final red flag of the Qualifying session with just 38s left on the clock after he crashed at Acque Minerali.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 27.999 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.779 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.132 |
| 4 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.165 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.203 |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.743 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 1.809 |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 2.440 |
| 9 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 3.063 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | No Time Set |
| 11 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m 20.757 |
| 12 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 0.159 |
| 13 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.381 |
| 14 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 0.677 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 7.362 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1m 20.474 |
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 0.258 |
| 18 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 1.497 |
| 19 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.864 |
| 20 | Alex Albon | Williams | No Time Set |
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