2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

The **2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race held on 24 April 2022 at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. It was the first Grand Prix weekend of the 2022 season to utilize the Formula 1.5 sprint racing format.

## Background

### Track Changes

The DRS detection point was moved further back before turn 17.

### Championship Standings before the race

Esteban Ocon was the Drivers' Championship leader after the previous round in Australia with 55 points, 11 ahead of Lando Norris in second, with Kevin Magnussen in third, six points behind Norris.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

### Tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.

## Practice

There were two practice sessions, both lasting one hour. The first practice session started at 13:30 local time (UTC+02:00) on Friday, 22 April. The second practice session started at 12:30 local time on 23 April. The first practice session ended with Kevin Magnussen quickest ahead of Mick Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. The session was red flagged twice due to the wet conditions causing spins at turn twelve by Lando Norris and later Valtteri Bottas. In the second practice session, Fernando Alonso set the fastest lap ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Gasly.

## Qualifying

Qualifying took place at 17:00 local time and was scheduled to last one hour. Unlike the 2021 season, in which the qualifying for the Formula 1.5 sprint determined the grid for Saturday and the winner of the sprint would be considered as the pole-sitter for the Grand Prix, the 2022 rules state that the driver setting the fastest time on qualifying would be considered as the pole-sitter regardless of the sprint results.

The first qualifying session was red flagged with 12 minutes left after Alexander Albon's brakes caught fire at turn 14 due to an incorrect switch setting, spewing debris all over the track. Only ten drivers had set times before the red flag, causing the track to become congested. The drivers eliminated were Albon, his Williams teammate Nicholas Latifi, the two AlphaTauri drivers, Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, and Esteban Ocon in the Alpine. The second part of qualifying was red flagged after F1.0 driver Sainz crashed. In Q3, there were three more red flags, bringing the total in qualifying to five, a new record. First was Kevin Magnussen spinning at turn 12, one of many drivers having issues at that part of the track. The second red flag in the session was called when Valtteri Bottas's Alfa Romeo had an issue causing him to pull off the side of the track at turn 16, with only three minutes left in the session. Drivers were again in a frenzy to get one more chance to improve their lap time; however, with less than a minute to go, Lando Norris spun at turn 12. This caused the session to end prematurely, leaving the drivers with no more chance to improve their lap times.

## Sprint

The sprint started at 16:30 local time on 23 April and lasted for 21 laps. Unlike the 2021 season, in which only the first three placed drivers in the sprint received points, the 2022 rules expanded points to the first eight drivers. It continued to determine the grid for the race on Sunday.

Pierre Gasly hit Zhou Guanyu at turn 9, causing a puncture for Gasly, and Zhou's retirement, which brought out the safety car.

## Race

The race started at 15:00 local time on 24 April and lasted 63 laps.

With rain falling in the circuit in the preceding hours and the track being wet, all cars on the grid started on intermediate tyres. Those starting on the right side of the grid, had a bad start due to a bitumen asphalt strip, which was added to cover the old starting line but had become more slippery when it rained. Ricciardo made contact with F1.0 driver Sainz at turn 1, spinning him down to last. After the Sainz–Ricciardo collision, Mick Schumacher had a half-spin, as his rear-axle slid tagged the sidepod of Fernando Alonso, who had to retire on lap 8 after his bodywork failed.

## Championship Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

  1
  1
  1
  5

Constructors' Championship standings

  1
  2

## External Links

1. ↑  Alexander Albon failed to set a time during qualifying, but he was permitted to race in the sprint at the stewards' discretion.
2. ↑ Zhou Guanyu was required to start the race from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions due to a collision with Pierre Gasly.