By Alan Baldwin
IMOLA, Italy (Reuters) – Formula One champion Max Verstappen took pole position at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in a sprint race on Saturday, but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc still extended his overall lead to 40 points.
The Dutch driver had already secured the official pole in Friday’s qualifying for the race, but Saturday’s result made that concrete, as well as earning him eight points.
Leclerc took the lead at the start and held it through an initial safety car period, before Verstappen made up for his poor start and passed the Monegasque – whose tires were rapidly deteriorating – with a late move on the outside.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz moved up to second in the championship standings after jumping from 10th to fourth in the race behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez at Imola.
Verstappen is now 45 points behind Leclerc.
The first race of the season awarded points to the top eight instead of the podium as was the case last year.
McLaren’s Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth and sixth, with Valtteri Bottas seventh for Alfa Romeo and Kevin Magnussen scoring the remaining point for Haas after starting fourth.
“My start was not very good and it took me a while to try to put the pressure on,” said Verstappen, who made his move with two laps to go.
Champion Mercedes had a difficult afternoon in Italy, with George Russell finishing 11th and missing out on second in the standings, while seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was 14th – one place below where he started.
Magnussen’s Haas teammate Mick Schumacher secured a 10th-place start with a chance to claim his first point.
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