Gran Premio d’Emilia Romagna – Free Practice 1: The top three drivers within touching distance, Mazepin in the wall

The first 20 minutes

Pilots do not waste time taking to the track, the new regulation which cuts an hour of testing on the weekend compels teams to not fall behind. The historic Imola circuit leaves little room for driving errors, the grass and gravel traps are close to the track. One driver who continues his momentum from Bahrain is Nikita Mazepin, who goes off into the gravel trap at the last corner of his installation lap.

Another driver who went to explore the gravel trap is Yuki Tsunoda who takes his AlphaTauri off at Turn 1. A rookie in F1, he knows the circuit like the back of his hand, indeed the Japanese driver has completed many laps there during the off-season.

Carlos Sainz will race his first Grand Prix in Italy this weekend with Ferrari, and he immediately gets a feel for his SF21 by setting the fastest time. He clocked a time of 1:17.682, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

At mid-session

The track, rarely used and re-surfaced, is gradually erased as the 19 single-seaters pass through. Indeed, a Formula 1 car has still not left its pit, Charles Leclerc’s number 16 Ferrari is still in its box while there is only half an hour of driving left.

Unhappy in the race last year, after finishing in a superb 4th place in qualifying, Pierre Gasly puts his AlphaTauri at the top of the time sheet, relegating Carlos Sainz to more than two tenths.

The drivers are opting for the softest range of tires and lap times are starting to drop, Carlos Sainz improves Pierre Gasly’s time with a 1:17.197.

Red Flag: strange scene on the track, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon touched in the first sector. The Mexican’s Red Bull is immobilized on the track with a very damaged left rear wheel. On Alpine’s side, the right front tire is marked and confirms the theory of a collision between the two drivers, car number 31 is also forced to retire.

The last 20 minutes

The red flag is still waving on the track, and time is ticking away. There are only 11 minutes left when Fernando Alonso rejoins the track. A track that he loves and the scene of two sublime confrontations between him and Michael Schumacher in 2005 and 2006.

Charles Leclerc finally makes his appearance on the track 10 minutes before the end of the session, a lot of time wasted for the Monegasque who will closely study the data and information of his teammate Carlos Sainz who has been completing laps.

The drivers are now all on soft tires and are improving their lap times, Valtteri Bottas clocks a 1:16.564 and places his Mercedes ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. The three drivers are within half a tenth of each other.

Finally, to conclude these Free Practice 1 in the same way he started them, Nikita Mazepin takes his Haas out at the pit lane entrance, but this time damaging it.

Free Practice 1 Ranking