Max Verstappen took the pole in Imola as he passed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the final lap of the Sprint race in Imola.
Max Verstappen had a poor start in the sprint race in Imola on Saturday but he sealed the victory late in the race as he overtook the race leader Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc could not hold off the Red Bull behind him as he struggled with the tyres at the end. However, the Monegasque was still satisfied with his P2 finish as he said, “It’s still a front-row start.”
He said that the pace was good until the final few laps. “We started to have some draining on the front left and lost it towards the end. That’s life, we’ll go to work and come back stronger tomorrow,” he said.
Furthermore, as the Dutchman took the lead his race engineer told him, “He does not have DRS.” To which, Verstappen replied, “Mate, please do not talk in the breaking.”
Also Read: Charles Leclerc isn’t happy with his Imola qualifying performance but vows to make up for it
Charles Leclerc will come back stronger
The Ferrari driver will start second on the grid on Sunday. Leclerc had an impressive start but he faced trouble with his tyre towards the end as he saw Verstappen’s Red Bull get bigger in the rearview.
However, he is still quite happy with his finish as he optimistically looks forward to his front-row start. “We struggled with the tyres at the end, so we need to analyse that for tomorrow. We need to make sure that we’re ready,” he said.
Meanwhile his teammate Carlos Sainz feels like he is still struggling with his car. He started the race from P10 as he hit the barriers in the qualifying on Friday.
But he managed to storm his way to a P4 finish and the Spanish driver feels like he did the maximum that he could.
“I knew I had to get up to a top at least a top-five, or maybe a top four, and today I managed to do that to get to P4. It was a solid day, a solid race and I am ready tomorrow to fight everyone.”
“I am glad I look from the outside comfortable because from the inside I am not quite yet comfortable,” he added.
Also read: Nico Rosberg fears Carlos Sainz is feeling pressured despite Ferrari contract extension
