Welcome to the Formula 1 Rolex Grand Premio Del Made in Italy E Delle'Emilia-Romagna 2022 or Imola GP.
It is the qualifying for the sprint ahead which will determine Sunday's grid.
Word on the street is that rain is expected for qualifying( spoiler alert- it did rain) and rain is to be expected the entire weekend. We are now getting Spa 2021 flashbacks.
FP1 one went smooth and well until Bottas crashed right at the end of the session and picked up small damage to his front wing. But it was fixed in time for the qualifying in the afternoon.
Qualifying
If you missed it, no worries. We will be highlighting all the drama that happened in the Imola rain.
Q1
A few minutes into Q1 and Albons' William caught on fire. A statement from the team stated that there was some issue with the brake pedal which caught on fire causing the first red flag This was the end for Alex. For the second time this session he will be starting P20 in the sprint.
There was a slight drizzle on the track. A few cars including Sainz and Hamilton spun off the track but managed to keep it on the tracks.
A nerve-wracking end to Q1 and Yuki, Gasly, Latifi, Ocon and Albon were knocked out of Q1.
Q2
It was going well and good until Sainz spun around and crashed into the barriers causing the red flag of the session. He got out of the car without any injury and managed to stay in the top 10. A bit of good news for Sainz but bad news to all those in the bottom 15.
With 11 minutes to go and the session being red-flagged, it started to rain for good in Imola.
The cooler the temperature harder it is to warm the tires.
Greenlight but no cars were seen on the track since it started to pour outside. Other cars that didn't a time before the red flag was in danger. With only 2 minutes to go, only Vettel, Alonso and Sainz were on track. Those who didn't set time were knocked out of Q2.
Due to rain and red flag Stroll, Zhou, Hamilton, Mick and Russell were knocked out of Q2.
Q3
The rain seemed to have dissipated a little bit and it was green light for Q3 and the fight for pole position for Sprint Race. Sainz is already out of Q3 and will start from P10. With the track still wet and 9 cars on track.
It was getting busy. Kevin Mag went into the gravel and caused the third red flag of the session. But he somehow managed to bring the car back to the pits.
By the time it was green light again, Haas mechanics managed to repair Kev's car and he was out in track after the green flag. This green flag was followed by another red flag, the fourth red flag caused by Bottas as he too spun and hit the barriers exactly like Sainz. With only 3 minutes clock and 8 cars waiting for the green flag.
Green lights for the final round, each car can only out in one good lap for qualifying.
With Max in on provisional, Charles was setting an excellent lap until the session was red-flagged for the 5th time with less than one minute to go. This time it was Lando Norris who spun around and crashed into the barriers but he took P3.
The session came to an end with Max on the pole followed by Charles in P2 and Lando in P3.
Haas had a fantastic quali session as KMag qualified P4.
Now the grid for the sprint is set, it will be a very interesting sprint race on Saturday.
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