Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Leclerc and Ferrari dominate

After a week off, Formula 1 is back and returning to the Emilia-Romagna circuit in Italy. A special weekend awaits the drivers. With the sprint race on Saturday, qualifying will take place this Friday, just a few hours after the first free practice session. And for this session, rain had also joined the party. A first for the majority of drivers who have never been able to test these new cars in the rain.

An annoying rain

In difficult weather conditions, Valtteri Bottas was the first brave driver to leave the pit lane, followed by Mick Schumacher a few seconds later. The track resembled more of an ice rink. The cars were struggling to find a rhythm, and the cool air wasn’t helping the track dry. This lack of grip prevented the drivers from setting interesting lap times. Under the cheers of the tifosi, Charles Leclerc made his entrance onto the circuit. However, the Monegasque quickly spun out while playing with the curbs, without consequences for the leader in the overall standings. As the drivers made small errors one after another, Max Verstappen set the fastest temporary time in 1:37.247.

Charles says hello to the Tifosi in his first lap 👋

He also finds himself in a spin too in the final corners 🔄😮#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/MJq6CHRbnF

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 22, 2022

After ten minutes, the finally heated tires allowed the drivers to achieve good lap times. The Ferraris regained the lead in the standings, with Leclerc posting a time of 1.35.629, followed by his teammate Carlos Sainz. For the time being, there was no question of using intermediate tires. It’s worth noting the impressive laps by Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly, and Yuki Tsunoda.

Make way for the intermediaries

Sebastian Vettel was the first driver to switch to intermediate tires. He then set the fourth fastest time, proving that these tires were working quite well. However, Lance Stroll couldn’t replicate his teammate’s time. On the other hand, Sergio Perez placed himself ahead of both Ferraris by a few thousandths of a second (1.35.476). With the track becoming less damp and the intermediate tires proving interesting, the drivers were finally able to start setting records. However, Leclerc had been making a lot of mistakes since the beginning of the session, but the Monegasque once again set the fastest time in 1.32.512. Sainz was just behind him. A few minutes later, it was Sainz’s turn to set the fastest time, greatly benefiting from the slipstream of his teammate (1.30.803). Only two drivers were still not using intermediate tires: Hamilton and Bottas.

POV: You’re @alex_albon driving round Imola! 😅#ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/4zhGn4GgEZ

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 22, 2022

The perfect Ferrari?

Regardless of the conditions, the Ferrari seemed perfect. In the last ten minutes, Leclerc and Sainz were constantly improving their lap times, aiming for first place. Verstappen, who was in third, was 1.4 seconds behind Sainz, once again proving that the Ferrari was the best car on the track. As the session drew to a close, the red flag was waved after Norris made a mistake. The officials thought that the British driver wouldn’t be able to get his car out of the gravel, but he managed to do so. The session was over, and Bottas hit the wall, causing damage to his front wing and preventing him from getting out, thus preventing the other drivers from performing a standing start. It’s also worth noting the good performance of the two Haas cars (4th and 5th).

The ranking of the first free practice session