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Oscar Piastri leads teammate Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz as Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez crash out of the final practice session of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Leclerc topped both sessions on Friday (Image Credit: @F1 on X)FP1 and FP2 saw reigning champions Max Verstappen and Red Bull struggle. The Dutchman finished fifth in FP1 and seventh in FP2 – not being happy with the balance of his RB20.
Meanwhile, Ferrari looks to have found more pace with its upgrades brought to their home race in Imola this weekend. Alongside the Scuderia, McLaren are also looking quick from the first two practice sessions.
The big question that will be asked before FP3 today will be whether Verstappen and Red Bull can iron out their issues yesterday. The team only has one hour of running before set-ups are locked for qualifying in Parc Ferme conditions.
Greenlight
McLaren driver Lando Norris was the first driver to exit the pitlane. Last race’s winner’s teammate Oscar Piastri closely followed – the pair were both on the hard compound tyre. Both Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll also headed out straight away on the medium compound tyre.
However, the four drivers headed straight back into the pitlane and it was Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, setting the first lap time of the session. The Mexican set a 1:16.782 on the medium tyre, beating Verstappen by 0.014 seconds on the same compound of tyre. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc slotted behind in third on the soft compound of tyre – just over a tenth behind the Red Bull driver.
Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz rose to the top of the timesheets. The Spaniard set a 1:17.444 on the soft tyre, going quickest in the second and final sectors.
However, Leclerc would then obliterate the Spaniard’s time, setting a 1:16.281, going purple in every sector 10 minutes into the session. Verstappen would find himself just under two-tenths behind the Monegasque at the top on the medium tyre. Meanwhile, Perez took a bit too much kerb on entry to the Variante Alta Chicane on his lap.
Reaching the quarter way mark, Leclerc went even quicker. The Monegasque set a 1:16.087, going purple in sectors one and two, as Ferrari look to push on with its newly upgraded SF-24.
Sainz would go quicker than the Monegasque by 0.020 seconds, setting a 1:16.067 a minute later to rise to the top of the timesheets.
Aston Martin will face a rush to fix Alonso’s car in time for qualifying (Image Credit: @F1 on X)Red Flag
Just before the half-way mark, a red flag was brought out for Alonso at the final sector. The Spaniard lost the rear of his AMR24 on entry to the final corner, crashing side-on into the barriers.
The green flag was back out just under 10 minutes later for the drivers to gain as much valuable data as possible before qualifying.
Oscar Piastri set his first lap time on the soft tyre, rising up to third, going quickest in the final sector. The Australian found himself just under two tenths behind Sainz. Piastri has the full upgrade package Norris had in Miami this weekend in Imola.
The McLaren driver was on for going to the top of the timesheets in his next lap. However, he veered off into the gravel at the final corner.
The final 10 minutes of the session saw a flurry of lap times come in on the soft tyre. Piastri went quickest with a 1:15.529. However, the rest of the laps were aborted due to Perez bringing out a red flag at the Variante Alta Chicane. The Mexican lost the car on entry to the chicane, slamming the kerb.
Perez found the barriers at the Variante Alta Chicane (Image Credit: @F1 on X)However, the green flag was brought out, giving drivers just enough time to set one more lap time on the soft compound tyre before qualifying. Norris was the only driver able to set a lap time, rising up to second. Many drivers had near-misses with all the traffic.
FP3 Classification
- Oscar Piastri
- Lando Norris
- Carlos Sainz
- Charles Leclerc
- George Russell
- Max Verstappen
- Alex Albon
- Esteban Ocon
- Lance Stroll
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Sergio Perez
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Valterri Bottas
- Logan Sargeant
- Kevin Magnussen
- Lewis Hamilton
- Fernando Alonso
- Pierre Gasly
- Zhou Guanyu
Feature Image Credit: Andreja Cencic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
