Formula 1

Imola GP: Verstappen recovers to beat Leclerc and win Sprint race

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Max Verstappen made up for a poor start in the best way as he re-passed Charles Leclerc to win the Sprint at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Red Bull's pace in the closing laps was just too strong for the Ferrari driver, as the Dutchman made a decisive move into Tamburello to secure P1 on the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix.

Sprint Review

A good start for Leclerc saw him take the lead from Verstappen on the run to Tamburello.

Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo touched at the chicane but continued with Sergio Perez getting ahead of the Australian into fifth from P7.

The two Mercedes lost places on the opening lap as the Safety Car was called for Zhou Guanyu being spun into the wall by Pierre Gasly through Piratella.

After the restart, Perez and Carlos Sainz made their way up the order producing nice moves with DRS on the approach to Tamburello.

Soon, the Mexican was up to third and the Ferrari made a late pass on Lando Norris for fourth from seventh and 10th on the grid respectively. 

At the front, Leclerc appeared comfortable but began to struggle with his tyres, allowing Verstappen to close within a second.

After getting close a few times, the world champion finally got the move done through Tamburello to reclaim the lead he lost at the start.

The Monegasque had to settle for second with Perez finishing less than two seconds behind in third highlighting Red Bull's strong pace in the closing laps.

Behind Sainz, the two McLarens of Norris and Ricciardo finished fifth and sixth as Valtteri Bottas recovered from a bad start to claim two points in seventh.

Kevin Magnussen held on to the final point in eighth for Haas ahead of Fernando Alonso in ninth and Mick Schumacher rounding out the top 10.

Mercedes didn't make the progress they expected with Russell finishing where he started in 11th, while Lewis Hamilton lost a place down to P14.

Sebastian Vettel couldn't capitalise on P9 in qualifying, losing four places down to 13th in the Aston Martin.

After gearbox issues saw him start 19th, Esteban Ocon only improved to 16th ahead of Gasly and the two Williams' at the back.

Zhou was the only retirement after his Lap 1 crash.

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