Valtteri Bottas posted the fastest time in a dramatic first practice for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix where the session was red-flagged twice on Friday.
Less than a tenth of a second separated the top three with Bottas .041 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and .058 clear of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen.
The session was stopped for the first time with about 22 minutes left after an incident between the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and the Red Bull of Sergio Perez heading into the Villeneuve chicane.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during free practice for Sunday's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, at the Imola track, Italy, Friday, April 16, 2021. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
The rear left tire of Perez’s car was ripped off and the front of Ocon’s suffered heavy damage in the incident. The teams will need to work quickly to get them ready for the second practice session on Friday afternoon.
The red flags came out again shortly after the end of the session as Nikita Mazepin spun off and crashed into the barriers at the pit lane exit.
The Emilia-Romagna GP at Imola is the second race of the Formula One season. World champion Hamilton won the opener in Bahrain last month.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during free practice for Sunday's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, at the Imola track, Italy, Friday, April 16, 2021. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during free practice for Sunday's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, at the Imola track, Italy, Friday, April 16, 2021. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz of Spain steers his car during free practice for Sunday's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, at the Imola track, Italy, Friday, April 16, 2021. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
Mercedes driver George Russell was quickest in the second and final practice session at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix ahead of the sprint race later Saturday.
Russell was 0.081 seconds faster than Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez on a warm and sunny day at Imola in contrast to the miserable conditions on Friday.
Championship leader Charles Leclerc, who has won two of the three races this season, was third-fastest in his Ferrari, 0.283 behind Russell and just ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco steers his car during the second free practice for Sunday's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, in Imola, Italy, Saturday, April 23, 2022. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
The sprint returns this weekend for the first of three races in 2022. Instead of the usual three practice sessions, there was only one practice followed by qualifying on Friday for Saturday’s sprint. The results set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix and also offer points for the top eight finishers — in a slight change from last year’s debut of the format.
World champion Max Verstappen is on pole position for the 21-lap dash to the finish line later, after besting Leclerc in Friday’s incident-packed qualifying session that saw five red flags.
Verstappen, who was seventh-fastest in the practice session, won the Saudi Arabian GP but that was sandwiched between retirements in Bahrain and Australia. He is already 46 points behind Leclerc, who leads the championship by 34 points over Russell.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain arrives in the paddock at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, in Imola, Italy, Saturday, April 23, 2022. Italy's Emila Romagna Formula One Grand Prix will take place on Sunday. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno).
Leclerc will also be cheered on by the passionate, red-clad “tifosi” at the track named after the Italian team’s founder and his son: Enzo and Dino Ferrari.
Imola returned to the F1 calendar in 2020 after a 14-year absence, but this is the first time in three editions that fans have been allowed in because of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 120,000 tickets have been sold for the weekend.
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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the second free practice for Sunday's Emilia Romagna Formula One Grand Prix, at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari racetrack, in Imola, Italy, Saturday, April 23, 2022. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)
