Sainz misery continues with early Imola heartbreak

Ewan Gale
Sunday 24 April 2022 16:15 - Updated: 16:19

Carlos Sainz's torrid Emilia Romagna weekend in front of the passionate Tifosi came to an end at the very first corner after contact with Daniel Ricciardo.

Both Ferrari's bogged down at the start as the rain complicated matters, with Charles Leclerc and Sainz dropping down the order on the way to Tamburello.

McLaren driver Ricciardo was to the inside of Sainz into the first corner and as the Spaniard tried to maintain position into turn two, wheel-to-wheel contact tipped the Ferrari into a spin.

For the second race in a row, Sainz's race ended with his F1-75 beached in the gravel after he retired from the Australian Grand Prix after just two laps in a similar vein.

Sainz's weekend had looked to have taken an upturn on Saturday with a resolute performance in the sprint, working his way up from 10th to fourth after crashing out of Q2 on Friday.

The incident triggered the safety car, with the FIA race stewards determining there was no need to investigate the collision.