“It was fast, pushing quite a bit!” Max Verstappen ecstatic as he gets the better off Charles Leclerc in the first sprint of the season

“It was fast, pushing quite a bit!” Max Verstappen ecstatic as he gets the better off Charles Leclerc in the first sprint of the season

The first Sprint Race in Imola during the Emiglia Romania Grand Prix weekend saw some terrific racing from all the racers as they locked horns for some Sprint points. Up and down the grid, we saw some close confrontations between Verstappen and Leclerc, Ricciardo and Sainz, and even Sebastian Vettel and his “apprentice” Mick Schumacher. And this also became the first Sprint Race ever where the two leading drivers competed against one another and the one running second overtook the race leader.

The struggle for the first position and the eight Championship points that come with it was surely a tooth-and-nail fight for Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver started the Sprint Race in the pole position after a great performance at yesterday’s Qualifiers in the rain-soaked Imola Circuit. But today, as the lights went out, Leclerc showed the power of his Ferrari SF-75 as he soared past previous year’s World Champion Verstappen.

But Verstappen is not someone who would back down so easily. He knew his race start had not gone as he had hoped but he came through during the latter part of the race when Leclerc’s tyres started to give out. The Tifosi were overwhelmed as Leclerc’s Ferrari was leading the race for the better part of the Sprint session, but when the race was coming to an end, Verstappen gained on his opponent and race to the finish line with 8 points to his name.

“I’m of course happy about today” : Max Verstappen maintains his supremacy as he clinches the Sprint Race win from rival Charles Leclerc

Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen did not settle for P2 in the Imola Sprint Race even after Charles Leclerc had managed to grab the lead of the race in the first few seconds itself. Reacting to the start, Max only had these words to say in the post-race interview: “”Start was very bad, I don’t know what exactly happened. But I had to stay calm.”

But when there were three laps to go before the race ended, Verstappen gave a short message to his race engineer as he said, “Leave it to me.” And the reigning World Champion knew exactly what he was doing as he gained on Charles Leclerc under DRS in the straight zone and swerved past him effortlessly.

Commenting on the amazing race win, Max Verstappen said, “Very happy to have a clean Sprint race at the end. I’m of course happy about today, but tomorrow other tyre compounds will come into play.” He further said, “It was fast, pushing quite a bit!” With a great Qualifying and a thrilling Sprint Race title to his name, will Max Verstappen maintain his Imola Grand Prix dominance in the main race on Sunday? That remains to be seen.

Also Read: “Back together,” F1 team principals unwind and de-stress ahead of intense weekend at the Imola GP