Red Bull went 1-2 in a snoozefest at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez claimed the top two spots and McLaren’s Lando Norris finished in the third and final podium position.
The race began in wet conditions with all drivers beginning on intermediate tires and Verstappen holding pole position over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the current 2022 Formula One leader, but Perez and Norris immediately passed Leclerc on the first lap. Leclerc eventually passed Norris on the eighth lap but by that time, both Verstappen and Perez had widened their gap to the third place combatants and Leclerc never seriously threatened either Red Bull driver even when the race director finally allowed the DRS [drag reduction system] to be employed on Lap 35 of the 63-lap race as the track dried out.
After all drivers switched to medium tires on Lap 19 when the rain had stopped and the track had dried out, there ensued a 30-lap period where there was only one overtake amongst the Top 10 racers before Leclerc finally pitted for soft tires to try and wrest the fastest lap point away from Verstappen – but Leclerc almost immediately bungled that attempt by running over a curb, spinning and damaging his front wing when he touched the wall – causing him to pit and dropping him to ninth place. Leclerc then spent the remainder of the race in damage control – moving up to finish sixth.
With the easy victory and Leclerc’s bungling, Verstappen took a big chunk out of Leclerc’s overall lead in the driver’s standings where Leclerc has 86 points to Verstappen’s 59 points in second place and Perez in third with 54 points.
2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Top 10
1] Max Verstappen Red Bull
2] Sergio Pérez Red Bull
3] Lando Norris McLaren
4] George Russell Mercedes
5] Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo
6] Charles Leclerc Ferrari
7] Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri
8] Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin
9] Kevin Magnussen Haas
10] Lance Stroll Aston Martin
