Max third fastest in Imola FP1

Published on 22 April 2022 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen clocked the third fastest time during the opening practice session of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was quickest, followed by team mate Carlos Sainz. The two Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher completed the top five.

It is wet at the start of FP1 with an ambient temperature of 11 degrees Celsius and the track temp hovering around the 15 degree mark. Because of these conditions, race control have disabled DRS use during the session.

Valtteri Bottas is the first driver out on track as well as being the first one to put a time on the board. Ten minutes into the session, all drivers have had a first taste of the Imola circuit, all of them sporting the full wet-weather Pirelli tyres.

In the first half of the session, Max and Leclerc immediately hit the ground running with both drivers bettering each other’s lap times at the top of the leader boards.

At the halfway mark, there is a lull in the session with all cars back in the garage. Sebastian Vettel breaks the silence and is the first to opt for the intermediate Pirellis. It proves the right call with the Aston Martin driver moving up to fourth. McLaren’s Lando Norris confirms that inters are the way to go by going second fastest.

Ultimately, the Ferraris set the pace on the intermediates with Charles Leclerc dominating the session, lapping the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari eight tenths quicker than team mate Sainz and two seconds quicker than third-placed Max.

With five minutes on the clock, Lando Norris causes a red flag after an excursion through the gravel traps at turn twelve. The session is resumed with three minutes to go but ends with Valtteri Bottas beaching his Alfa Romeo at the entry into Aqua Minerali.

Contest GP Emilia Romagna: win a 1:43 Max Verstappen Imola 2021 scale model

Results first free practice Emilia-romagna: