Beijing time on April 24 news, the 2022 F1 fourth race Imola station today in the main competition. Pole-setting Verstappen won the title by an absolute advantage, his second victory of the season, with Perez runner-up and Red Bull successfully completing 1+2. Norris finished third on the podium, followed by Russell, Bottas and Leclerc.
Hamilton was swept by Verstappen in the race and finished 14th, while Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu finished 15th.
Pre-match news
1. In Saturday's sprint, Verstappen, who started from pole, finished first and today he will continue to start from pole position, with Leclerc finishing second and Perez third.
2. Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu retired from the sprint after crashing and the team subsequently violated the repair rules, and today's race will start from the pit.
3. Imola is still affected by rainy weather today, the track temperature is low, all drivers use half-rain tires to start, and the weather forecast shows that the probability of rain in the race is as high as 60%.
Departure: Verstappen holds pole position Ferrari suffered a double whammy
At 21:00 Beijing time, the race officially began, and after a lap of warm tire rings, the train started! Verstappen started well, holding his pole position, Leclerc didn't start too well, With Perez rushing up at turn one to get ahead of the Ferrari drivers and Red Bull temporarily taking the top two. Norris also seized the opportunity to overtake Leclerc, who slipped to fourth place.
Ricciardo made contact with Sainz on the track, and Sainz rushed off the track after spinning, regrettably quitting the race, showing a yellow flag and a safety car. Zhou Guanyu's position at this time was raised to 18th, in front of ricciardo, where the accident occurred, and Hamilton was in 12th place.
On lap 5, the game resumed, with Verstappen holding his lead firmly behind him, escorted by teammate Perez. Leclerc tried to attack Norris, but didn't find a good chance.
On lap 7, Alonso, whose car was damaged, returned to the pit to withdraw from the race, and Zhou Guanyu had reached 17th place. On lap 8, Leclerc overtook Norris to return to third place with absolute speed on the straights, and fans cheered.
After ten laps, the top five drivers on the track are Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Norris and Magnussen. Russell, who started from 11th, has risen to 6th and has performed quite eye-catchingly.
Verstappen held the lead after changing the tires Bottas pitted a low-level error
On lap 11, Russell tried to attack Magnussen, but Magnussen held his position by "drawing a dragon". After one lap, Russell completed the overtaking, but he pressed down to the shoulder, the car had obvious bumps, Magnussen immediately regained his place, and Bottas also chased russell at this time. However, at the 14th turn, Russell finally completed the overtaking and rose to 5th place.
On lap 14, Bottas also overtook Magnussen, and Zhou Guanyu also surpassed Mick Schumacher to 16th. The next few laps of the race appeared to be uneventful, and the track gradually dried out, in which case the wear and tear of the half-rain tires would be very serious.
On lap 18, the last Ricciardo led the way, and he wanted to gamble on dry tires to see if he could turn the tide. Vettel and Alben also made the same change in the subsequent pit stop, and Zhou Guanyu was already in 13th place at this time.
On lap 19, Perez pitted in neutral tires, followed by a number of drivers, including Zhou Guanyu, but Verstappen and Leclerc remained on the track for the time being.
On lap 20, Verstappen and Leclerc pitted, with Verstappen taking 2.3 seconds and Leclerc taking 3.7 seconds. Leclerc was in front of Perez after coming out, but Perez immediately took advantage of the temperature of the tyre to complete the reversal.
After 20 laps, the top five drivers on the track were Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Norris and Russell. Bottas' tire change was a mistake, took 11 seconds, and came out behind Russell, while Zhou Guanyu was in the last place.
On lap 21, Leclerc made the fastest lap to close the gap with Perez, but Perez's defense was very tenacious and did not give his opponent too good a chance to overtake. Leading Verstappen has been spinning the fastest laps in a row, constantly expanding his lead.
On lap 25, Mick Schumacher rushed off the track and made a turn, and Zhou Guanyu seized the opportunity to overtake it.
On lap 30, the lead Verstappen had already begun lapping, and he had a huge advantage of nearly 10 seconds ahead of teammate Perez behind him
After 30 laps, the top five drivers on the track were Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Norris and Russell, with Zhou Guanyu still in 17th place.
Hamilton was brutally trapped by Verstappen
On lap 34, the tournament officer announced that drs could be turned on. At this time Hamilton is frantically chasing Gasley, and he is also in danger of being trapped by Verstappen.
On lap 36, Verstappen made another fastest lap. There are already nearly 12 seconds ahead of teammate Perez.
After 40 laps, the top five drivers on the track are Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Norris and Russell. Zhou Guanyu rose to 15th place after surpassing Latifi.
On lap 41, Hamilton made way for Verstappen, verstappen completed the lap, and imagine the fierce competition between the two in last year's closing station, which is now a world apart.
The next few laps were uneventful. On lap 50, Leclerc pitted again, trying to make the fastest lap, and when he came out, he fell behind Norris.
After 50 laps, the top five drivers on the track are Verstappen, Perez, Norris, Leclerc and Russell. Zhou Guanyu was in 15th place.
Sprint: Leclerc rushes off the track verstappen to win the championship by absolute advantage
On lap 51, Perez also pitted himself, helping his teammates to keep the fastest lap. Leclerc overtook Norris in this lap and returned to third place. After one lap, Verstappen also entered the station and still maintained a lead of more than 10 seconds after coming out.
On lap 53, Leclerc had chased behind Perez and could turn on the DRS, but he then pressed onto the shoulder, the car spun around and rushed out of the track, hitting the parapet slightly, the tyres and front wing damaged, and he was overtaken by Norris. Leclerc had to re-enter the station to change tires, and after coming out, he had slipped to 9th place.
On lap 56, Leclerc overtook Magnussen to return to 8th place, five seconds away from Vettel in front of him.
By lap 57, Bottas had already approached Russell and could soon turn on the DRS. On lap 58, Bottas tried to attack but was unsuccessful. On lap 59, Leclerc overtook Vettel back to 7th.
Entering the final three laps, light rain began to fall on the track, and Bottas kept trying to attack Russell, but never got too good a chance.
In the end, Verstappen won the title by absolute advantage, his second victory of the season, With Perez runner-up and Red Bull successfully completing 1+2. Norris finished third on the podium, followed by Russell, Bottas and Leclerc, with Hamilton finishing 14th and Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu in 15th.