Verstappen Overtakes Leclerc to Win Sprint at Imola

First placed Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, left, talks with second placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco on the podium of a sprint race at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, in Imola, Italy, Saturday, April 23, 2022. (AP)
First placed Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, left, talks with second placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco on the podium of a sprint race at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, in Imola, Italy, Saturday, April 23, 2022. (AP)
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Verstappen Overtakes Leclerc to Win Sprint at Imola

First placed Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, left, talks with second placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco on the podium of a sprint race at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, in Imola, Italy, Saturday, April 23, 2022. (AP)
First placed Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, left, talks with second placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco on the podium of a sprint race at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, in Imola, Italy, Saturday, April 23, 2022. (AP)

Max Verstappen overtook Formula One leader Charles Leclerc on the penultimate lap to win the sprint race at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Saturday and reignite his season.

Verstappen started the sprint in pole position after finishing first in Friday’s qualifying, but the Red Bull driver was overtaken by Leclerc’s Ferrari as soon as the lights went out, much to the delight of the "tifosi."

But Verstappen doggedly pursued Leclerc and swept around the outside of the Ferrari into Tamburello then stormed away to secure victory and top spot on the grid for Sunday’s grand prix.

He finished 2.975 seconds ahead of Leclerc and 4.721 ahead of Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez.

"The start was very bad. I don’t know exactly what happened or why it was so bad but after that we had to stay calm," Verstappen said. "Initially, it looked like Charles had more pace but I think he ran out of tires and we could close the gap and make the move.

"I know maybe tomorrow it might be different. But today it worked out for us."

Verstappen's one point for the sprint meant he trailed Leclerc by 45. However, Leclerc actually extended his overall lead. He was 40 points ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., who moved above Mercedes driver George Russell into second in the standings.

"It’s still a front row start," Leclerc said. "We struggled with the tires at the end, so we need to analyze that for tomorrow. The main race is tomorrow and we need to make sure that we are ready. We will work and come back stronger tomorrow."

Sainz started the sprint in 10th after a crash in Friday’s incident-packed qualifying session but finished fourth, just ahead of McLaren duo Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.

Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso and Mick Schumacher rounded out the top 10 of the grid.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will start in 14th as Mercedes' miserable weekend continued.

"We haven’t got it right this year but everyone is working hard as they can to correct it," Hamilton said. "We stick together, we try to motivate everyone.

"We are obviously not fighting for the championship but we are fighting to understand the car and improve and progress through the year. That’s all we can hope for right now."

Leclerc has won two of the season's three races and will be hoping to end Ferrari's three-year wait for a victory on home soil - and at a circuit named after the Italian team’s founder and his son: Enzo and Dino Ferrari.

Imola returned to the F1 calendar in 2020 after a 14-year absence, but this is the first time in three editions that fans have been allowed in because of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 120,000 tickets have been sold for the weekend.



Man United Needs Near Perfect End to Season to Avoid its Worst Premier League Points Total


Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)
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Man United Needs Near Perfect End to Season to Avoid its Worst Premier League Points Total


Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)

Manchester United needs to win seven of its eight remaining Premier League games this season just to match its worst-ever points total in the modern era.

That's how bad it's got for the record 20-time English champion in a crisis-hit campaign.

“We have to get it right fast,” head coach Ruben Amorim said after Tuesday's 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

United’s lowest points total since the Premier League began in 1992 was 58 in the 2021-22 season. It is currently on 37, with 24 more points to play for, The AP news reported.

Seven wins would give Amorim’s team the 21 points needed to reach 58.

To put that in context, United has not won back-to-back games in the league all season. The last time it managed that was in the final two games of the previous campaign.

Amorim, meanwhile, has only won six and lost nine of his 19 league games since taking over in November. United has won 10 in total.

New lows The loss to Forest was United's 13th in the league this term. Last year's total of 14 defeats was the club's worst in the Premier League era.

Amorim said in January that this might be the worst team in United's history and things have only got worse since then.

While there is little danger this season of one of the world's most storied teams being relegated from the top flight for the first time since 1974, it will almost certainly hit new lows in the modern era.

United's lowest league position in the Premier League was the eighth-place finish overseen by former manager Erik ten Hag last year. It seems unlikely Amorim will be able to better that, with his team eight points below eighth-place Fulham.

Based on form, the likelier scenario is United finishes the season even lower than it already is, with Tottenham, Everton and West Ham all within touching distance.

Years of decline This season continues United's onfield decline since managerial great Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after winning the club's last league title.

It was his and United's 13th championship of the first 20 years of the Premier League. The club hasn't won another since.

Its lowest finish in the Premier League under Ferguson was third.

Goal drought Among United's many problems this season have been a lack of goals. The Forest game was the 11th time it has failed to score in the league - prompting a desperate Amorim to play center back Harry Maguire in attack as he went in search of a late equalizer.

Maguire came closer than any of his teammates to scoring when seeing a stoppage time effort cleared off the line.

“We deserved more in this game, that is clear, but it was our fault. We need to be better in the last third," Amorim said.

Rasmus Hojlund, a striker signed from Atalanta for $82 million last season, has only scored eight goals in his 41 games in all competitions this term.

Strike partner Joshua Zirkzee has scored six in 45 appearances. United has scored 37 in the league all season with a goal difference of minus-4.

Amorim, however, insists he sees improvement.

“I don’t lie to myself," he said. "Everybody can say whatever they want to say, I see some things, but we need to win games.”