Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the fastest time during the opening practice session for Formula 1’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
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Formula 1 returned to the historic venue after a year’s absence in 2023, caused by extensive flooding in the region, with warm and sunny conditions prevailing on Friday. Leclerc set a time of 1:16.990s, to finish 0.104s clear of Mercedes’ George Russell, as several front-running teams introduced upgrade packages.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished third, ahead of the Red Bull drivers of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, who had a scruffy session. The World Champion had to make an unscheduled diversion to the pit lane after a visor tear-off became lodged in a brake duct.
Verstappen re-emerged on Soft tyres, and was on course to challenge Leclerc’s time, but made a mistake into the Gresini chicane and took to the grass run-off. Verstappen had another crack at a hot lap but went wide into Acque Minerali and endured an excursion through the gravel trap.
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda was an encouraging sixth, at a circuit located just a stone’s throw from its factory at Faenza, while Lewis Hamilton spun exiting Acque Minerali en route to seventh place. McLaren had a relatively low-key session, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri classifying eighth and ninth respectively, leaving Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to round out the top 10.
Oliver Bearman returned to Formula 1 action for the first time since his stand-in appearance with Ferrari in Saudi Arabia. Bearman’s outing with Haas was his first of six planned FP1 runs in 2024 as he continues his audition for a 2025 seat. The youngster’s appearance at Imola came after a subdued display during Formula 2 practice, when he crashed out of the session at the Tamburello chicane. But Bearman stayed out of trouble through the Formula 1 session and finished in 15th position.
Williams’ Alex Albon caused the session to be suspended after 20 minutes when his Williams FW46 shut down after he ran over a kerb at Piratella. Albon parked the car on the grass exiting Acque Minerali and the session was halted while his car was retrieved.
Friday’s second one-hour practice session is scheduled for 17:00 local time.
