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Max Verstappen will lead the field away for the first F1 Sprint race of the 2022 season, having stormed to pole position at Imola.

Red Bull driver Verstappen got the better of Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc in a wet qualifying session that was interrupted by several red flags.

McLaren's Lando Norris and Haas' Kevin Magnussen took advantage of rivals' issues to lock out the second row, with Alpine's Fernando Alonso completing the top five.

Sergio Perez will start back in seventh in the other Red Bull after a compromised session, with Carlos Sainz only 10th for Ferrari after crashing out.

It was even worse for Mercedes, with George Russell (11th) and Lewis Hamilton (13th) both being eliminated in Q2 amid ongoing car struggles.

Under a revised system, eight points are now available to the winner of the Sprint, with the second-place finisher scoring seven points and so on down to eighth position.

The starting grid below is provisional until confirmed by F1's governing body, the FIA.

Starting grid for the 2022 F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Sprint
Position	Driver	Team
1.	Max Verstappen	Red Bull
2.	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
3.	Lando Norris	McLaren
4.	Kevin Magnussen	Haas
5.	Fernando Alonso	Alpine
6.	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren
7.	Sergio Perez	Red Bull
8.	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo
9.	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin
10.	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
11.	George Russell	Mercedes
12.	Mick Schumacher	Haas
13.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
14.	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo
15.	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
16.	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri
17.	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri
18.	Nicholas Latifi	Williams
19.	Esteban Ocon	Alpine
20.	Alexander Albon	Williams

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