Live F1 | Reaction to the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola

Liveblog Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Verstappen had a poor start in the sprint race, failing to cash in on his pole position and going through the first corner in second place Saturday. The starting problems with the RB18 should be history for today if all goes well, as Helmut Marko indicated that it was just an issue with the synchronization.

On the penultimate lap, Verstappen managed to outsmart his rival from Monaco to grab eight World Cup points. With that, he ran one point in on Leclerc, the leader in the world championship. Especially in terms of tire degradation, Red Bull seems to have an advantage over Ferrari. The Italians have to deal with graining and so Verstappen and Perez can possibly make the difference in that area.

The men in the top-ten

On the second row of the grid, it's Perez and Carlos Sainz, with both McLaren's of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo behind them. The men of the racing stable from Woking will have to look especially backwards, because there Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso and Mick Schumacher will be keen to make up positions.

For the Mercedes, it will be damage limitation. George Russell (P11) and Lewis Hamilton (P14) had a dramatic qualifying session on Friday, but were not able to take revenge in the sprint race. Toto Wolff spoke of a "degrading experience. The W13 should be fast enough for points, but Russell and Hamilton will have to change their tune.

Check the full provisional starting grid here!

Wet tarmac?

Prior to the Grand Prix it will probably be raining cats and dogs in Italy. Around 14:00hrs there will be a lot of showers over the circuit so it is likely that we will start on a damp, if not wet track. It's possible that we'll also see the use of intermediates again. Later in the race it will be time for slicks anyway.