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Ferrari star Charles Leclerc was sad after the race: he had previously knocked himself out of the podium
Photo:
Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Leclerc takes himself out – Verstappen dupes Hamilton:
It was supposed to be a big break: The reinvigorated Ferrari came to the home track in Imola with a lot of self-confidence, Charles Leclerc arrived with a clear lead in the drivers' championship, 40 points ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz, a full house at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
And then the competition from Red Bull celebrates a double victory with Max Verstappen at the top.
The world champion was temporarily 14.2 seconds (lap 43) ahead of Leclerc in third place, but worse: Leclerc, under pressure, ended up in the gang (54) just before the end, the podium was passé.
Before that, there was a scene that was at least as impressive in silence: Verstappen lapped Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes (41), with which he had fought a bitter world championship fight to the end last season.
It should currently be the low point for Hamilton.
The result:
the grandstands at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix were bathed in red, but the podium was blue and orange.
Verstappen won ahead of his teammate Sergio Pérez, third was Lando Norris (McLaren).
In the end, Leclerc was only enough for sixth place, Hamilton was 13th. Read the race report here.
The start:
Was already a debacle from Ferrari's point of view: Leclerc got off badly and initially fell back to fourth place.
For Sainz, the race was over after a few meters after a collision with Daniel Ricciardo.
Although the pictures looked more like a mistake by the McLaren driver, the sports commissioners did not examine the scene.
Sainz, who has just extended until 2024 with Ferrari, caused a crash in Imola in qualifying, the zero points in the race should put him under further pressure.
Especially in the racing teams competing for the World Championship, the teammates of the top drivers are under constant observation.
"I went over the limit":
Leclerc was also in a bad mood: "There are no excuses, I made a mistake that I shouldn't have made," he said.
He "went over the limit" and "paid the price for it." Leclerc was third behind Pérez before getting fresh soft tires again on lap 49.
He landed just behind Norris and then put pressure on Pérez, who was also running on fresh tyres.
Apparently too much.
A little later, in the Alta variant, he spun over the curbs after a bump and hit the barriers.
Leclerc missed the podium for the first time this year.
Toto Wolff apologizes:
After the disastrous 13th place, Toto Wolff apologized to Hamilton on the radio.
The car was "undriveable," said the Mercedes team boss.
He apologizes that Hamilton had to drive it today.
"Don't worry," Hamilton said.
You just have to keep working hard.
"Yes, we will get out of there," Wolff is quoted as saying.
But today it was a “terrible race”.
Hamilton's new British team-mate George Russell, however, did considerable damage control in fourth place.
The Emilia-Romagna is drowning - the Tifosi does not deter that:
Of course not.
Ferrari's renaissance in the Formula 1 World Championship mobilized the masses in Italy, and the rainy weekend didn't keep fans at home.
All tickets were sold in advance, 100,000 people are said to have been on the route.
For the first time after two years of the pandemic, spectators are allowed in the stands again - and they loudly acknowledged every failure and every overtaking maneuver by their Scuderia.
At the award ceremony that followed, however, the atmosphere was somewhat subdued.
Again no points for Schumacher:
It looked promising.
In his 25th Formula 1 Grand Prix, the son of record champion Michael Schumacher started from tenth place and thus from the points.
In the sprint, he left Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin (13th) and Hamilton (14th) behind, among others.
But in Imola he makes two spins.
One right at the start of the race, another on lap 25 in the chicane.
He dropped to last place and finished 17th.
Things went better for Vettel:
Sebastian Vettel scored his first championship points this year in eighth place in the Aston Martin.
"Everything was fine," he said on Sky: "It's great for the team to get the first points.
It's an eighth place, but for us it's like a win.” Vettel's teammate Lance Stroll also finished tenth in the points.
Aston Martin was the only racing team without points after three races and now at least left Williams behind.
What's next?
With the Formula 1 premiere in Miami from May 6th.
With his win, Verstappen has moved up to second place behind Leclerc in the drivers’ standings after two retirements this season – the two are still 27 points apart.
