Max fifth after Imola FP1

Published on 17 May 2024 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen opened his Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix weekend with a fifth place in the first free practice session. Charles Leclerc lapped the famous Imola circuit quickest in his Ferrari. George Russell was second in the Mercedes, ahead of Leclerc’s Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz.

After the torrential weather conditions led to the cancellation of the event in 2023, a year later Imola is basking in sunshine as Formula 1 returns to the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

The start of the session sees the usual flurry of action with most drivers heading out straight away. In the opening stages, Esteban Ocon informs his Alpine team that his car suffers bouncing on the long start/finish straight, whilst Yuki Tsunoda survives a quick trip through the gravel traps in his RB.

At the front, George Russell tops the timing sheets after the first fifteen minutes, followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Hamilton. Max, who started his session on the soft Pirelli tyres, is in fourth.

Alex Albon, who recently extended his contract with Williams, did not enjoy his return to Northern Italy, with his FW46 grinding to a halt and causing a red flag. Although the session can be resumed quickly, the incident marks the end of Albon’s session.

In the second half of the hour long session, most teams switch to running on the soft tyres, resulting in the laptimes slowely dropping. With twenty minutes to go, Max is back in eighth with Leclerc, Russell and Sainz having clocked their best times of the session.

Max manages to improve his best effort to within three tenths of Leclerc, but has to settle for fifth. The reigning champion appears to not be best pleased with the balance of his RB20. He reports to the team he suffers no grip in turn 11 as well as going wide in the turn 14 chicane. To cap his session off, the Dutchman ploughs through the gravel in turn 11 on his final run.

Contest GP Imola: win a by Max Verstappen signed Verstappen.com Racing cap!

Results first free practice Italy: