Emilia Romagna GP: Hamilton leads Verstappen in practice
Lewis Hamilton set the pace for Mercedes in the sole Formula 1 practice session for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on Saturday, edging out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
As part of the revised two-day race weekend format at Imola, drivers were handed a single 90-minute practice session on Saturday morning to dial their cars in ahead of qualifying later today.
In the first official on-track running for F1 at Imola since 2006, Hamilton was able to take top spot ahead of Verstappen and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Verstappen set the initial pace in practice on the hard compound tyre before Bottas was able to jump ahead on the timesheets on mediums as Red Bull and Mercedes opted for different run plans.
Verstappen and Bottas traded fastest times after making the switch to soft tyres and completing their qualifying simulations, with the Red Bull driver setting the faster time.
Hamilton initially split his rivals on the timesheets, lapping close to two-tenths of a second slower than Verstappen, only to go faster on his second push lap on softs with a time of 1m14.726s.
It was enough to give Hamilton P1 by 0.297 seconds from Verstappen, while Bottas was almost half a second down on his teammate’s fastest time.
All three set their best lap times with around 30 minutes remaining in the session before shifting focus to race simulations, similar to a traditional FP2.
A flurry of laps on the soft compound tyre saw AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly rise up to fourth place in the final few minutes of the session, leading the midfield cars and finishing just nine-tenths of a second off Hamilton at the top.
Charles Leclerc made a late improvement to finish fifth for Ferrari despite reporting throughout the session that his car was “difficult to drive” as he struggled with understeer.
Renault got both of its cars into the top 10 as Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon finished sixth and seventh, followed by Daniil Kvyat in the second AlphaTauri in eighth place.
Alexander Albon took ninth for Red Bull, lapping over a second slower than Verstappen in the sister RB16 car after having a number of laps deleted in the early part of the session.
Albon was caught out for exceeding track limits at Piratella and at the exit of Variante Alta, prompting the Anglo-Thai driver to vent his frustration about the stewards’ clampdown.
Albon was far from the only driver to struggle with track limits as more than 40 lap times were deleted by race control through the session.
Racing Point pair Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez took 10th and 11th place ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrari. Vettel focused on hard-tyre running for much of the session, but made a late improvement on softs to finish 12th overall ahead of Haas’s Romain Grosjean.
Carlos Sainz survived a wide moment at Rivazza early in the session that sent him through the gravel to finish 14th overall for McLaren. Teammate Lando Norris finished two places behind in 16th as the duo were split by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.
Kimi Raikkonen finished 17th for Alfa Romeo ahead of Williams’ George Russell, who struggled with some set-up changes made on his car through the session.
Kevin Magnussen took 19th for Haas ahead of Nicholas Latifi, who propped up the timesheets for Williams in 20th and completed the fewest laps after an early brake issue.
Emilia Romagna GP - Practice results:
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lewis Hamilton |  | Mercedes | 46 | 1'14.726 | |
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |  | Red Bull | 39 | 1'15.023 | 0.297 |
| 3 |  Valtteri Bottas | | Mercedes | 47 | 1'15.218 | 0.492 |
| 4 |  Pierre Gasly |  | AlphaTauri | 46 | 1'15.633 | 0.907 |
| 5 |  Charles Leclerc |  | Ferrari | 41 | 1'15.688 | 0.962 |
| 6 |  Daniel Ricciardo |  | Renault | 32 | 1'15.839 | 1.113 |
| 7 | Esteban Ocon |  | Renault | 44 | 1'15.945 | 1.219 |
| 8 |  Daniil Kvyat |  | AlphaTauri | 47 | 1'15.966 | 1.240 |
| 9 |  Alex Albon |  | Red Bull | 41 | 1'16.061 | 1.335 |
| 10 |  Lance Stroll |  | Racing Point | 42 | 1'16.082 | 1.356 |
| 11 |  Sergio Perez |  | Racing Point | 42 | 1'16.109 | 1.383 |
| 12 |  Sebastian Vettel |  | Ferrari | 40 | 1'16.167 | 1.441 |
| 13 | Romain Grosjean |  | Haas | 42 | 1'16.550 | 1.824 |
| 14 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |  | McLaren | 42 | 1'16.560 | 1.834 |
| 15 |  Antonio Giovinazzi |  | Alfa Romeo | 33 | 1'16.564 | 1.838 |
| 16 | Lando Norris |  | McLaren | 45 | 1'16.671 | 1.945 |
| 17 | Kimi Raikkonen |  | Alfa Romeo | 43 | 1'16.684 | 1.958 |
| 18 | George Russell |  | Williams | 43 | 1'16.780 | 2.054 |
| 19 |  Kevin Magnussen |  | Haas | 45 | 1'17.060 | 2.334 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi |  | Williams | 29 | 1'17.779 | 3.053 |
| View full results | ||||||
Related video
Previous article
Renault frustrated with F1 rivals blocking Alonso test
Next article
Wolff on hunt for Mercedes F1 team boss successor
About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Event | Emilia-Romagna GP |
| Author | Luke Smith |
Sebastian Vettel explains why Aston Martin
Aston Martin AMR21 Unveiling
The updates Williams hopes will lead to a point-scoring return
After producing a car which demonstrated progress but lacked the points to prove it last year, Williams starts its new era of team ownership with the FW43B, its bid to continue the climb up the Formula 1 grid in 2021
How Ferrari plans to recover from its 2020 F1 nightmare
The 2020 Formula 1 season was Ferrari's worst for 40 years as it slumped to sixth in the standings. A repeat performance will not be acceptable for the proud Italian team, which has adopted a notably pragmatic approach to forging its path back to the top
Why Aston Martin’s arrival is more than just new green livery
In the most eagerly anticipated Formula 1 team launch of the season, the rebranded Aston Martin squad’s changes go much further than the striking paint job. But rather than a restart, the team hopes to build on top of solid foundations.
The car Aston Martin begins its new F1 journey with
The team formerly known as Racing Point gambled successfully on a Mercedes look-alike in 2020 as it mounted a strong challenge for third in the constructors' race and won the Sakhir GP. Now clothed in British racing green, Aston Martin's first Formula 1 challenger since 1960 provides the clearest indicator yet of what to expect from the new-for-2021 regulations
The tricky driver conundrums facing Mercedes in F1 2021
Ahead of the new Formula 1 season, reigning world champions Mercedes will take on challenges both old and new. This also can be said for its driver conundrum which could become key to sustaining its ongoing success...
How Alpine's cure to 2021 F1 rules starts at the front
A new name, new faces and new colours pulls the rebranded Alpine Formula 1 team into a new era while carrying over core elements of its 2020 car. But under the surface there's more than meets the eye with the A521 which hints at how the team will tackle 2021...
Can Mercedes' W12 retain the team's crown?
Replacing Formula 1's fastest car was never going to be an easy feat for Mercedes. Amid the technical rule tweaks to peg back the W12 and its 2021 rivals, the new Mercedes challenger will remain the target to beat
The pointed note that starts Ferrari's Leclerc vs Sainz era
Ferrari is starting its post-Sebastian Vettel age by welcoming Carlos Sainz in alongside Charles Leclerc. But while Sainz has a tough challenge to match his new teammate, Ferrari is also sending a message that previous intra-team spats must end
