Verstappen seventh in final free practice Imola

Published on 23 April 2022 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen finished the second free practice session for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in seventh position. The Dutchman drove 35 laps on the 4.909-kilometre long Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari and set a 1:20.371 as his fastest time. George Russell was with a 1:19.457 the fastest. Behind him the top three was completed by Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc.

It is 12:30 when the lights go green for the start of the final free practice session. Unlike yesterday’s rained out first practice, it is a dry and relatively sunny Saturday afternoon. Most of the drivers, including Max Verstappen, come out on track within a couple of minutes to gather as much data as possible. Max leaves the pitlane on a set of soft tyres and returns to the team after twelve laps. His fastest time of 1:20.548 is then good for third place.

Halfway the session the top six is formed by George Russell (1:19.457), Sergio Pérez (+0.333), Lewis Hamilton (+0.535), Max Verstappen (+1.091), Yuki Tsunoda (+1.131) and Alexander Albon (+1.134). At the time Verstappen is going round the circuit with medium tyres on his RB18. The world champion improves his time to a 1:20.371 and does a total of nineteen laps on the yellow-coloured rubber, before changing in the final phase of the session to soft tyres.

Max finishes the second free practice session in seventh position. Mercedes driver George Russell is fastest, followed by Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc. For McLaren it turns out to be a miserable session with only five laps for Lando Norris. Teammate Daniel Ricciardo does not come out at all because of technical issues, along with Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas.

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

Results second free practice Emilia-romagna: