The Dutchman recovers second place in the drivers' standings, still dominated by Leclerc.

Passed between the drops of a capricious Italian sky since the beginning of the weekend, the Red Bulls left no chance to their opponents and flew from the start on a wet track – even if the rain had stopped.

"Already yesterday and the day before yesterday, we were in the game and it was shaping up to be a solid weekend. As a team, we all performed well, and this 1-2 (on the podium) is well deserved ( ...) Everything was well managed", reacted Verstappen on arrival.

Dutchman Max Verstappen wins, at the wheel of his Red Bull, the Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, ahead of his Mexican teammate Sergio Perez, on April 24, 2022 at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, Italy MIGUEL MEDINA AFP

As in 2021, F1 renewed its qualifying sprint race format this weekend at Imola.

The classic qualifying contested on Friday set the starting positions for the sprint race on Saturday, which itself set the starting grid for the GP.

And on the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit of Imola, Verstappen won everything there was to take in Italy: qualifying, victory in the sprint race (gaining 8 additional championship points in the process) and the best time in the race on Sunday.

Dutchman Max Verstappen wins, at the wheel of his Red Bull, the Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on April 24, 2022 on the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, Italy GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE POOL / AFP

Missed appointment for Ferrari

In front of spectators won over to his cause, Leclerc never managed to take the advantage over the reigning world champion.

Starting second, the Monegasque got off to a bad start, falling to 4th place before moving up one position.

But on the 54th lap (out of 63), the Ferrari driver made a mistake, quickly falling to the middle of the classification after going off the track.

He will finally fail in 6th place in the GP.

Monegasque Charles Lerclerc, driving his Ferrari, during the Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, April 24, 2022 on the Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, Italy GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE POOL / AFP

Sunday evening, Leclerc still maintained a clear lead over his rivals in the championship: the Monegasque now has 86 points ahead of Verstappen (59 pts), his new runner-up.

Before the start of the GP, the Dutchman, forced to retire twice this season due to mechanical problems, occupied a modest 5th place with 33 points, including 25 earned during his victory in Saudi Arabia at the end of March.

Leclerc, victorious in two out of four rounds (in Bahrain and Australia), signs at Imola its worst place of the season.

The other Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, was once again forced to retire after a collision on the first lap with Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren.

This is the second withdrawal in a row for the Spaniard after Australia, who, second in the championship before the Italian round, fell to 5th place.

On the Mercedes side, the reigning world champion team, the performance of George Russell, who started from 11th place and moved up to 4th at the end of the race, barely masked the difficulties of his teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Fourteenth at the start, the seven-time world champion finished in 13th place ... and even had a lap taken by Verstappen.

© 2022 AFP