Formula 1

The F1 Sprint races are about to return for the 2022 season after a dramatic hat-trick of events in 2021 when the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen ...

Austria and Sao Paulo will also provide the settings for Sprint races during the 2022 season. That makes the Sprint more likely to prove pivotal in deciding where drivers finish this season. Hamilton won the full British Grand Prix race, where Verstappen did not finish after a hugely controversial collision with the home hero. What does the Sprint race entail? Pit stops are not mandatory, meaning the race lives up to its name by giving drivers the chance to go flat-out for victory from the start. How is it likely to affect the standings, and what time and where can F1 fans watch it?

Full Q1, Q2 and Q3 results from F1 qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Round 4 of the 2022 F1 world championship.

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Imola, officially known as Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, appeared annually on the Formula 1 calendar from 1980 to 2006. But it took the COVID-19 ...

Verstappen won six other races in 2021, and only one of them was actually run in 2020. Be sure not to miss it, and don’t miss today’s knockout qualifying session (10:55 a.m. ET, ESPN2) or tomorrow’s sprint race (10:25 a.m. ET, ESPN) either. So it wouldn’t be completely accurate to put this track in the same category as Imola here. The Belgian Grand Prix, for all intents and purposes, wasn’t actually run. But Verstappen won in 2021 simply by qualifying on pole. Imola, officially known as Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, appeared annually on the Formula 1 calendar from 1980 to 2006.

Dan Marcus picks the DFS contest and best bets for this weekend's Formula 1 race in Italy where Valtteri Bottas looks to continue his momentum.

A bet on Alpine as the constructor for a race win — or even podium — is a bet on chaos as there's little to no chance they move past Red Bull or Ferrari on pure pace. There's not much value in betting Ferrari or Leclerc at this point, so I like a pivot to Sergio Perez. There has been chatter that the Red Bull is set up more to his liking than Verstappen's. Turning more to an evidence-based approach, we are only two races removed from Perez winning pole and having a legitimate chance to win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix if not for an ill-timed yellow flag. Valtteri Bottas has finished in the points in two of three races, and he was forced to retire in the other grand prix. While Zhou Guanyu has not looked out of place in his first three races in F1, Bottas should have the advantage over his rookie teammate — a factor that is key to picking up DK points. Leclerc/Ferrari is the obvious stack to begin the lineup as a result. Meanwhile, Mercedes has been off the pace through three races and can't be reasonably projected to contend for race wins without odd circumstances taking place ahead of it on the grid.

Max Verstappen has taken pole position for Red Bull at the Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix sprint race on Friday. Here's how and when to watch the ...

For the entire 2022 F1 season, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights of every qualifying and race of each event. The starting order for the sprint race will be decided by a traditional qualifying session held on Friday afternoon. Live streaming through NOW is also available in the UK. F1 has long been looking to make changes to the traditional race weekend format and while other options like reverse grid races were considered, they were ultimately unfancied compared to sprint races. In F2 the sprint race is 120km and the feature race covers 170km, though are usually no less exciting. They’re used in many other series, though perhaps most notably for Formula 1 is their inclusion in the Formula 2 race weekend.

Imola plays host to the first F1 Sprint race of the 2022 season. Here's how you can watch the session that decides the starting grid for the Emilia Romagna ...

Viewers from selected countries can subscribe to F1 TV to stream the Imola Sprint race on a device of their choice. - Denmark - TV3 / TV3 Sport / Viaplay Can’t find your country or region in the list?

World champion won the right to lead Saturday's 21-lap dash to decide P1, while Lewis Hamilton criticised his mishandling Mercedes after only managing 13th.

Leclerc set the pace on his opening hot lap in Q3, mighty through the second and third sectors but he was only two-hundredths clear of Verstappen with a time of 1min 28.778sec. Pole gives Verstappen the chance to claw back points in the title fight which Leclerc leads on 71, with the world champion, who has retired twice this season, in sixth on 25. The drivers kept lapping as the clock ticked down and Verstappen pipped his rival with a 1min 27.999sec lap just before another red flag as Valtteri Bottas ground to a halt on track. It really punishes you if you make a mistake you can go in the wall. By its close Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had earned “pole position” but such is the equally painful structuring of this format, while his pole counts statistically in the record books it is only for Saturday’s sprint race which will decide the literal pole for Sunday’s GP. Hamilton only narrowly made it into Q2 and finished in 13th place with his teammate George Russell in 11th.

Unlucky twist left Ricciardo 'hurt'; full extent of Mercedes nightmare — F1 Qualifying Analysis.

Norris credited a second straight strong qualifying session to the climatic conditions rather than the car, and on one level that makes sense. It’s much more difficult to pass at Imola compared to Interlagos, however, and that will be particularly true if the track is in any way damp to make deviating from the racing line treacherous. Haas will be the team’s chief rival, with Kevin Magnussen taking a sensational fourth. The car doesn’t like big braking zones, and the reduction in speed in the wet effectively took the bite out of the biggest stops around the track. With the improvements on the second lap, I really feel I could be significantly further up, but that’s alright.” Russell’s car was porpoising so badly during that hour that the floor stays, designed to help with the problem, snapped. Carlos Sainz re-signed with Ferrari during the week, but the Spaniard couldn’t convert that confidence into a qualifying result, crashing out of Q2 in what he described as surprising snap from the car at the end of a lap on which he wasn’t pushing particularly hard. To date sprint races have needed a focal point, and two cars starting out of position will be key excitement generators. If Verstappen can hold position off pole, even the Ferrari’s car superior corner-exit traction may not be enough for Leclerc to overcome him in the sprint, which doesn’t feature pit stop strategy to shake up the order. Things were only marginally better for Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull Racing car. A dry track combined with frequent bursts of rain made the session challenging for drivers. In wet practice everything was coming up Ferrari, with the red cars more almost 1.5 seconds quicker than anyone else.

The fans that braved the wet and chilly conditions at Imola on Friday were rewarded with a thriller of a qualifying session that saw Max Verstappen snatch ...

Repeating the feat in race trim will be tricky, but confidence is growing inside the team – and there is still one hour of practice to work on long runs. There’s also second practice on Saturday morning, where the conditions are expected to be the warmest and driest they’ve been all weekend, with that good weather set to continue for the rest of the weekend. That ultimately left him P10 and his team with a lot of work to do overnight to rebuild his F1-75. He was confident when we spoke in the morning that Red Bull were on top of their reliability issues and hopeful they could be in the fight this weekend. This was Mercedes’ most chastening performance of a challenging 2022 season. Here are five things we learned from practice and qualifying…

Max Verstappen took pole position for Red Bull in a nailbiting qualifying session ahead of the inaugural F1 Sprint of 2022 at Imola.

It was very slippery to get the tyre temps to work. Vettel sealed Aston Martin's first Q3 appearance of 2022 in P8 (and emerged for a late intermediate run alongside Leclerc), Ricciardo and Bottas rounding out the top 10. Verstappen then improved to a 1m 27.999s, just after Bottas crashed to bring out a red flag going into Turn 16. “It was tricky out there with the rain… The rain then returned to ensure a damp finish to Friday evening. It was a hectic, long qualifying but of course at the end happy to be here. Dry line now clear, Lance Stroll set the first benchmark for Aston Martin – before the session was red flagged with 12 minutes remaining, Albon’s right-rear brake up in flames and spreading red-hot debris in its wake. Verstappen led Leclerc out but, given how difficult their out-laps seemed, it was clear that neither driver would improve. Nearly eight-tenths off, Leclerc had one last chance to pry provisional pole away from the reigning champion but was left second and 0.799s off after the red flag. The Spaniard went second, 0.197s off then-leader Verstappen, but spun and crashed going into the final left-hander. The umbrellas soon unfurled, and those drivers’ fates were essentially sealed. Tsunoda’s team mate Gasly could only take P17, making it an early elimination for both of AlphaTauri's drivers at their home circuit.

Championship leader Charles Leclerc took the second spot on the grid for the sprint race, ahead of Lando Norris in third and Kevin Magnussen in fourth.

Lewis Hamilton said his Mercedes was driving "like a rattlesnake" but the Briton tamed his car on Saturday to qualify fifth for the Australian Grand Prix in a much-improved performance. His was not the last red flag, however, as in the finale to the day's action, Norris slipped off into a wall to trigger the final red flag of the day. However, both seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and George Russell failed to make the cut to the top-ten shootout as their Mercedes team failed to progress for the first time in a decade. Lando Norris was third for McLaren ahead of Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Fernando Alonso of Alpine and Daniel Ricciardo, who was sixth in the second McLaren. Championship leader Charles Leclerc took the second spot on the grid for the sprint race, ahead of Lando Norris in third and Kevin Magnussen in fourth. The 24-year-old Dutchman drove his Red Bull with care and aplomb to avoid problems on a day of frequent crashes and five red flags that left Ferrari's championship leader frustrated.

Ferrari looks to continue its hot start in their home country. Here's how to watch this weekend's F1 race.

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Live coverage of Saturday's second Formula 1 practice session for the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola in Italy.

Franco Colapinto converted pole position into his and Van Amersfoort Racing's maiden FIA Formula 3 victory during a frantic Sprint Race at Imola.

Roman Stanek was a beneficiary of the late drama to move into fourth place, ahead of Hadjar, who was able to keep going through the gravel after his collision with Collet. The Alpine-backed youngster was involved in a collision with fast-charging Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar on the approach to the first chicane and was pitched into the gravel. Collet, who led for much of the race after passing pole man Colapinto on the fourth lap, left empty-handed after he was involved in a clash mere seconds after losing top spot.

Mercedes' George Russell set the pace in second practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as teams focused on gathering long-run data for the main race on ...

That classification will then define the order for Sunday’s main event – the Grand Prix. Visit our RACE HUB to find out how and when to watch it where you are. As this is a F1 Sprint weekend, there are only two one-hour practice sessions, the second of which takes place on Saturday morning. There was frustration on the other side of the garage, too, as while Lando Norris – who starts the F1 Sprint third – was able to get out and about early on, a brake issue meant he was unable to set a meaningful lap time.

Live updates, highlights and results from the first Formula 1 Sprint race of the season, at F1's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

15 mins to lights out: There are a few drivers who will be looking to make up places as they qualify for the full length race tomorrow. Of the cars with medium tyres, Magnussen is the furthest forward. He came together with Gasly, who gets new parts in the pits and will rejoin the back of the pack. Some teams struggled to get heat in their tyres yesterday, and they'll be hoping for a more driveable circuit today. Lap 12: Sainz gets past Magnussen, to cheers from the home fans. Perez is up to P4, and it's Lando Norris separating Perez from his teammate in P2. Formation lap: A mix of soft and medium tyres, as the teams begin the formation lap. Fernando Alonso is slow off the mark, with a couple of cars overtaking him. It was an interesting choice from Haas to go with the medium tyres. Lap 19: LeClerc's tyres have looked in poor condition for the last few laps. The Haas strategy might be paying off, as Mick Schumacher gets past Vettel. Lap 20: Verstappen takes the lead!

World champion will start P1 on Sunday and claimed championship eight points, while Lewis Hamilton struggled with his Mercedes and will begin in 14th.

With the victory Verstappen has secured pole for Sunday a potentially vital achievement at Imola where overtaking is difficult. It was a bravura move, perfectly executed and the sort of racing the sprint race has long needed. He was third several laps later, an impressive run and vital for Red Bull so he can play his part in the race tomorrow. Max Verstappen won the sprint race for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola and in doing so secured pole for Sunday’s race. Out front however while Leclerc was in control, Verstappen closed in the final four laps to within a second. Both Hamilton and Russell struggled to make any headway through the field, unsurprisingly with a tricky can on a track where overtaking is far from easy.

Lewis Hamilton has ruled Mercedes out of the World Championship title fight just four races into the 2022 Formula One season after a disappointing Emilia ...

The car is faster, but we just don't have the speed in the straight to actually move forwards. "Strategy is going to be key. "We've got work to do. That is all we can hope for right now." "We haven't got it right this year but everyone is working as hard as they can to correct it. "This is the situation that we are faced with and we are obviously not fighting for the Championship but we are fighting to understand this car and improve and progress through the year.

Lewis Hamilton has compared his Mercedes W13 with the 2009 McLaren MP4-24, the Formula 1 car he regards as the worst he has ever experienced.

"And unfortunately, we got on track and we didn't see that... And we got there." "But I didn't have the experience at the time. "The new rules said that we would have 50% less downforce in 2009, so they designed the car to have 50%, less downforce! And I have the utmost faith that my team can do that here too." "And I can assure you I have.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has dismissed talk of friction with Lewis Hamilton over their Formula 1 struggles, despite intrigue following an animated ...

And this team, we've done it in the past and we just need to dig ourselves out of that hole." "It's obvious that we are not anywhere near the fight at the front. But it was basically the same point of view and just sheer anger.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen overthrew Charles Leclerc late on to win the first sprint race of the 2022 Formula 1 season at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

And Perez kept putting the slipstream out of the final corner for the run into the chicane to good use as he then copied the manoeuvre on Norris with the help of DRS to climb to third. That brought Verstappen close out of Rivazza and gave him the slipstream, which combined with DRS, allowed him to make his move around the outside into Tamburello. Leclerc gave his rival space at the first apex, and Verstappen kept within the painted lines to make the move stick before romping to a 1.5s lead before sealing the win by 2.9s. Leclerc had not made an error, as Verstappen brought the gap below a second and then used DRS and the slipstream out of the final corner to bring the difference down to half a second. Leclerc settled a little over the 1s threshold for three tours and then on lap seven, set what was at the time the fastest lap of the race to stretch his cushion to 1.5s over the RB18. With the aid of DRS and as his Ferrari rival battled oversteer, Verstappen dived around the outside into Tamburello and kept his car on track to take the win and pole for the full GP on Sunday. Leclerc had nailed his launch and with the kink on the main straight placing him on the inside, he could sprint past a wheel-spinning Verstappen to seize first into Tamburello.

Max Verstappen ensured he will start in P1 for tomorrow's race at Imola after the reigning champion overcame rival Charles Leclerc in the F1 Sprint.

Verstappen lost out to Leclerc at the start but was able to hit back on the penultimate lap of the Sprint to take victory – the Safety Car punctuating the action on Lap 1 when Zhou Guanyu and Pierre Gasly came together. Max Verstappen ensured he will start in P1 for tomorrow’s race at Imola after the reigning champion overcame rival Charles Leclerc in the F1 Sprint. HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from the Sprint as Verstappen outduels Leclerc at Imola