IMOLA.- The Monegasque Charles Leclerc set the best time of the 1st free practice session of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, 7th round of the Formula 1 World Championship, this Friday in Ímola (Italy).
The pilot of Ferrari He surpassed the Mercedes of the British George Russell and his Spanish teammate in the Scuderia, Carlos Sainz.
The current triple world champion Max Verstappen could only be fifth at the end of those first tests, especially used for fine-tuning the cars.
The World Championship leader did not seem completely comfortable in that first hour of filming, making several driving errors without consequences for his RB20.
Winner of the last GP, in Miami, the British Lando Norris finished 8th, ahead of his McLaren teammate, the Australian Oscar Piastri, 9th.
A second session is scheduled this Friday afternoon.
Ferrari in command in the first session:
Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:16.990 (29 laps)
George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 1:17.094 (28)
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 1:17.120 (25)
Sergio Pérez (MEX/Red Bull) 1:17.233 (23)
Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1:17.240 (21)
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/Racing Bulls-Red Bull) 1:17.388 (29)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:17.408 (27)
Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:17.602 (17)
Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:17.807 (25)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:17.867 (18)
Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:17.905 (21)
Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:18.072 (22)
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Racing Bulls-Red Bull) 1:18.142 (26)
Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1:18.612 (29)
Oliver Bearman (GBR/Haas-Ferrari) 1:18.667 (31)
Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Sauber-Ferrari) 1:18.827 (23)
Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Sauber-Ferrari) 1:19.129 (18)
Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams-Mercedes) 1:19.901 (22)
Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes) 1:20.050 ( 8)
Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 1:21.059 (20)
Source: With information from AFP
