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Verstappen domination poses title questions for Ferrari

Red Bull’s Formula 1 fightback was always likely to come sooner rather than later, but it was unfortunate for Ferrari and its fans that the blue team’s first 1-2 for six years should arrive on Italian soil last weekend.

As Matt Kew shows in our race report on page 14, Red Bull had a small but significant edge at Imola, while a few Ferrari slips – most notably Charles Leclerc’s first big error of the year – made it an emphatic success. Max Verstappen’s maximum haul of 34 points puts him where the performance has always been this year – up near the top of the table battling Leclerc. Ferrari now has to respond, which will be the true test of the team’s championship mettle.

One thing Ferrari shouldn’t be criticised for is giving Leclerc a second pitstop. It was clear he wasn’t going to beat Sergio Perez as things stood. Fresh rubber gave him the chance of fastest lap, a potential advantage if a safety car was called, and asked Red Bull a question. That Leclerc then went off is, as the Monegasque knows, entirely down to him and is something he must not repeat. That was the sort of race where Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton would have perhaps snatched a second, or at least bagged third, during their epic 2021 title tussle.

An equally exciting (possibly!) championship contest kicked off at Donington Park last weekend. The new British Touring Car era got going with some close racing, intra-team fighting and three different winners. Marcus Simmons explains all on p36.

Kevin Turner Chief Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com

NEXT WEEK

5 MAY How F1 cracked America A er a torrid time in the US,

F1 will soon have three GPs there. Here’s why

COVER IMAGES Peter Fox/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool; Sutton/Motorsport Images

PIT & PADDOCK 4 Brawn pushing for six sprints for 2023 6 BTCC glad to see ballast gone 8 Big names join electric tin-tops 10 Obituary: Sid Taylor 11 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 12 Opinion: Matt Kew 13 Feedback: your letters

RACE CENTRE 14 Emilia Romagna GP report and analysis 30 Rovanpera stuns in Rally Croatia thriller 36 Ingram pounces amid BMW BTCC drama 44 World of Sport: FIA Formula 2, F3, Porsche Supercup; Formula Regional European; Super Formula; NLS; NASCAR Cup; 24H Series; MotoGP

CLUB AUTOSPORT 61 Adam and Haigh to reunite in Mercedes 62 Light panels replace flag signals 64 Jackson and Kivlochan in new historics 66 Opinion: Stefan Mackley 67 National reports: Kirkistown;

Donington Park; Cadwell Park; Snetterton; Thruxton; Rally Tendring & Clacton BRC; Prescott BHC

FINISHING STRAIGHT 78 What’s on this week 80 From the archive: 1970 British GP 82 My favourite track: Josh Cook

SUBSCRIPTION OFFER 40 Special deals for Autosport

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28 APRIL 2022 AUTOSPORT.COM 3