The qualifying for the Imola sprint race ended with Max Verstappen taking the pole. Meanwhile, the 2022 world championship leader Charles Leclerc finished behind him at P2. The 2022 season has been a neck-to-neck battle between the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers. However, not everyone knows that these two have been fighting with each other since their karting days.

A while back, a video surfaced on the internet where both Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc got into an incident during a karting championship race. It was a race on a rainy day and the fight between the two got heated. So, both the drivers touched each other and Max Verstappen apparently ended up in a puddle. Eventually, both the drivers were disqualified. After the race, Verstappen and Leclerc both were angry at each other.

Even the reigning F1 champion still remembers the incident with Leclerc. But the Red Bull driver now laughs about it and said, “What happened in go-karting, you can laugh about it now! Good times.”

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Fellow F1 driver George Russell told Max that Leclerc isn’t laughing in the video. To which the Dutchman replies, “He’s laughing now!” 

Max Verstappen takes his first pole in 2022

The reigning champion is having a tough time this season. He faced two retirements out of the three races in 2022 so far. However, Verstappen did enjoy a race win in the Saudi Arabian GP. Meanwhile, his rival Charles Leclerc bagged two race wins and one podium.

Undoubtedly, the Ferrari driver is outperforming the 2021 world champion this season. Verstappen didn’t even enjoy a pole in the first three GPs. On the other hand, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez also took pole in Jeddah. but now, the Dutchman has finally got his first pole this season, outperforming 2022 rival Charles Leclerc. Verstappen secured P1 for the Imola sprint on Saturday while Leclerc would start alongside him in P2.

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However, Max still got a long way ahead before he can actually come near Leclerc in terms of championship points. Currently, the Monegasque driver is comfortably leading the 2022 world championship with 71 points. Meanwhile, Verstappen is in sixth place with just 25 points which he got for winning in Jeddah. To take the lead, the 20221 world champion has to start winning races. Do you think Max Verstappen can win the Emilia Romagna GP as he did the last time around?

Let us know all your predictions for the sprint as well as the race in the comments below.