EMILIA ROMAGNA: The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is poised to host its first-ever Sprint weekend in 2022, now in its third year since returning to the calendar in 2020. Before the race rolls into action, here are the schedule, as well as the favourites for pole, and points.

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will embark with the first practice, which is scheduled to trigger at 13:30 Local and 16:30 PST. The first round of the practice will be an hour-long, which will then be followed by the Qualifying race – starting at 17:00 Local and 20:00 PST.

The second day at the Imola will commence with the second round of the practice, followed by the Sprint, scheduled to be held from 16:30 – 17:30 Local (19:30 – 20:30 PST).

 

The final race, on the other hand, will roll into action on Sunday at 15:00 Local (18:00 PST).

Battle for Pole Position

In the last two editions of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, it was Mercedes, which claim the pole position. Valtteri Bottas took it in 2020, while Lewis Hamilton claimed it in 2021.

However, this time around, Ferrari and Red Bull are the top favourites to secure the pole position, following their recent form and positions in the previously concluded races.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who won the Australian Grand Prix, is the hot favourite for claiming what would be his third pole of the season.

Points Table after Australian Grand Prix

Ferrari will clearly have the advantage heading into one of their two home races this year, with Leclerc winning two of the three races so far this season – and missing out on victory in Saudi Arabia by less than a second as well.

Following his excellent run in the previous races, Ferrari’s Leclerc leads the points standings with 71 points, followed by Mercedes’ George Russell on 37 points. On the other side, Leclerc’s teammate Sainz sits in third place with 31 points.

READ: Ferrari’s Leclerc beats Perez to win Australian GP, Verstappen retires