Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team's Sebastian Vettel overcame mixed weather conditions and multiple red flags in Imola and secured ninth for the first F1 Sprint of 2022.
While Sebastian was boosted by incidents across the field, Lance’s bid to make Q3 was ended by an unfortunate red flag, meaning he will start 15th.
Sebastian
Sebastian continued to get up to speed with the AMR22 after a disrupted start to his season and made progress throughout the morning's FP1 session.
He carried it into Q1, despite the challenge of a developing dry line on an otherwise wet track.
A 1.26.544 opening lap put him into the top five, and he remained comfortably in the top 10 positions as he continued to better his lap time down to 1.21.705.
Ending his first stint in sixth place, Sebastian returned to the pits to prepare for his next run.
Track evolution played a key part in the track becoming ever faster, meaning Sebastian needed one final run to secure a Q2 spot.
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Fast, flowing and ready to punish even the slightest of errors: this is Imola, one of the most historic Grands Prix on the Formula One calendar.
Firing in a 1.20.364 effort, Sebastian ended Q1 in 11th place.
The pressure was on once again when Q2 began as spots of rain preceded yet another change in conditions.
With time for one push-lap before the track began to lose grip, Sebastian delivered a competitive 1.19.957.
It was a crucial lap because, moments later, Carlos Sainz Jr crashed and brought out the red flag, preventing any drivers from improving their lap times significantly when the session resumed on a damp track.
Finishing eighth, Sebastian progressed into Q3 – where the challenging surface continued to catch drivers out.
Sebastian would initially lap in a time good enough for ninth before Valtteri Bottas crashed and brought out a red flag with just over two minutes on the clock.
When the session resumed, Lando Norris collided with the barriers with less than a minute remaining, bringing an early end to the session and preventing Sebastian from improving on ninth place.
"I am pleased with the job we did today. It was my first time in Q3 in 2022 and the first time this year for both cars in Q2, which is a great effort by the team," said Sebastian.
"It took a while to get comfortable, but by the first run of Q2 I was pretty happy. In Q3, I only had one clean lap.
"On the second attempt, I braked late and ran wide in Turn Two, and then it was all red flags from there.
"It is a shame it ended in a bit of an anticlimax, but we should be able to have a good weekend from here."
Lance
Lance was unlucky not to join Sebastian in Q3 after the red flag caused by Sainz went against the Canadian.
Having started Q1 with a good turn of pace in damp conditions, Lance was first to set a competitive lap time with a 1.23.419.
The feat was made more impressive by Lance managing to complete his lap on Soft tyres, despite the wet patches on the Imola circuit.
Lance continued to lower his lap time and ended his first stint on track in seventh after a best lap completed in 1.21.287.
Significant track evolution meant Lance briefly looked set for a Q1 exit, but he rallied on a final flying lap to ease into Q2 after a 1.20.342 rocketed him into the top 10.
Lance continued to set competitive times in Q2, but there was only a narrow window to set a competitive lap before the rain arrived.
A slight lock-up cost Lance on his first run before his second attempt was aborted after Sainz's crash. Then, damper conditions left him in 15th place and ended his Q3 hopes.
"Despite the Q2 exit, I am positive about our performance today because we had good pace,” said Lance.
"We had a decent Q1 and finished inside the top 10, but Q2 was just very unlucky.
"After I locked up going into the chicane, we then had the unfortunately timed red flag, followed by rain, so I did not get another chance to improve.
"It is a shame we could not get it done on the track today, but I am hopeful for tomorrow."
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