Image Credits - F1 Twitter
F1 fans took to social media on Saturday to post about Max Verstappen’s comeback victory during the Sprint race of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
It was another fantastic duel between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc this season. The two were neck and neck during the Sprint race at Imola on Thursday but it was the Dutchman who came out on top after the 100km dash.
Verstappen, who started the sprint on pole, suffered an early setback off the line as he got off to a poor start. This allowed Leclerc to seize the lead and the Ferrari driver kept a hold of it until the penultimate lap of the race.
Leclerc had opened up a 1.5s lead over Verstappen in 2nd. However, with 5 laps remaining, the reigning world champion came within DRS range and put pressure on the Monegasque.
Eventually, Verstappen got past Leclerc with a clean overtaking manoeuvre on more durable tyres while coming off the main straight on Lap 20. It was the second-last lap of the race but Verstappen managed to pull away and win by a rather comfortable margin of 3 seconds as he crossed the chequered flag.
Verstappen’s win at Saturday’s Sprint also means that he will start the main race on pole position.
Verstappen’s pass on Leclerc was the first time that lead during a sprint race changed during the course of the race. And F1 fans on Twitter were quick to heap praise on Verstapppen’s smart and gutsy move.
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