Pole-sitter Verstappen vows to improve start | Leclerc seeks tyre 'cure'

Max Verstappen has vowed to work out how to right his poor start in the Emilia Romagna GP Sprint after earning the chance to start on pole again in Sunday's race.

Verstappen took pole for Red Bull in wet qualifying conditions on Friday in Imola, but gave up the lead to Charles Leclerc after a terrible getaway in Saturday's Sprint.

A superb overtake on the penultimate lap ensured Verstappen claimed the maximum eight points on offer, but perhaps more importantly, that he will start in front of world championship leader Leclerc when more points are available on Sunday.

"The start was very poor and we need to analyse why it happened like that because I think all the (practice) starts I actually did this weekend have been quite good, so (it was) a bit weird," Verstappen said.

"When I let the clutch go, just a lot of wheel spin and no traction. So my start was very, very poor."

Asked whether starting on the dirtier side of the grid, where he will be again on Sunday, was a factor, Verstappen pointed to evidence of Lando Norris's strong launch behind him.

"I mean Lando had a decent start, so there's no excuse," Verstappen added.

"My start was just terrible. I didn't have gear sync for whatever reason. So, yeah, I need to see exactly what went wrong."

The principal reason Verstappen was able to regain the lead was the degradation of Leclerc's tyres, which saw the Ferrari struggle in the closing stages.

That was despite the deployment of the safety car on the opening lap, triggered by a clash between Zhou Guanyu and Pierre Gasly, which saw three of the 21 laps driven at reduced speed.

Even with the extra cushion provided by that interruption, Leclerc was powerless to fight back once Verstappen passed, and would have been