2016 world champion Nico Rosberg typically welcomes Max Verstappen’s relentless attack on Imola as he fears for Ferrari and the life of their tires.
As the sprint qualifier returned in 2022, Verstappen was given a vital opportunity to recover points after suffering two costly retirements while competing in the Bahrain and Australian GP P2.
He had the perfect starting start from the pole, but championship leader Charles Leclerc got a better start by jumping Verstappen and in control of much of the race.
In the final stages, however, Red Bull told Verstappen on the radio that Leclerc was fighting the nipples and he duly approached the Ferrari driver with a pass to take the lead.
From there, Leclerc had no answer, as Verstappen controlled the last few laps and won P1 on the grid, along with eight valuable points.
For Rosberg, it was a hunt, far beyond Verstappen’s book.
P1 in the sprint and some good points for the team 👍 We are on the move, but we have to finish everything tomorrow 👊 pic.twitter.com/o07cFBIOKW
– Max Verstappen (@ Max33Verstappen) April 23, 2022
“Verstappen, just typical, so relentless,” Rosberg told Sky Sports F1.
“It’s like he’s one of those guys you least want to see in your mirrors that’s getting bigger and bigger because you know this guy is going to attack, giving him 100 percent.
“He did it again with a brilliant move that was fantastic to see.”
Although Leclerc and Verstappen used the soft sprint mix, Verstappen apparently managed to keep his performance in them longer than Leclerc.
So, looking ahead to the Grand Prix, Rosberg believes that this was really worrying for Ferrari.
“It’s certainly quite a concern for Ferrari because the tire level was very high in the end,” he said.
“The time difference between the two was quite significant, so it won’t make it any easier for them tomorrow.”
This was not only the first sprint for 2022, but also the first to take place after the major regulatory change.
Imola is a track where overtaking usually comes first, but there were a lot of moves that happened during the sprint qualifiers.
The concept is one that has a lot of polarized fans and F1 staff, but Rosberg is definitely a fan.
“I love these sprint races, to be honest,” he confirmed. “It was really fun to watch, really good action and I’m all for it.
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