by John N April 22, 2022, 4:41 pm inUncategorized

Free Practice Session 1: Leclerc Leads Sainz In A Soaked Practice Session

Championship leader Charles Leclerc beat Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz to the fastest time in wet opening practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The Monegasque clocked a 1m 29.402s to finish 0.877s ahead of Sainz, as Ferrari commanded the session—with Max Verstappen 1.465s off the pace in third.

As it’s the first F1 Sprint weekend of the year, this was the only practice session ahead of qualifying later on Friday, meaning drivers were keen to get out on track to gather data. Throughout practice, puddles and standing water gave them a chance to test out the new F1 super slicks in wet conditions, with Lando Norris spinning and briefly bringing out the red flag, while Valtteri Bottas spun and beached his Alfa Romeo on his final lap.

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Laps
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:29.402		24
2	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:30.279	+0.877s	25
3	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing RBPT	1:30.867	+1.465s	21
4	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	1:32.439	+3.037s	23
5	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas Ferrari	1:32.988	+3.586s	23
6	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing RBPT	1:33.012	+3.610s	17
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine Renault	1:33.160	+3.758s	13
8	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:33.365	+3.963s	22
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri RBPT	1:33.611	+4.209s	18
10	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:34.262	+4.860s	21
11	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	1:34.615	+5.213s	19
12	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri RBPT	1:35.104	+5.702s	19
13	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	1:35.420	+6.018s	14
14	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:35.502	+6.100s	12
15	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren Mercedes	1:35.625	+6.223s	15
16	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:36.033	+6.631s	23
17	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:36.461	+7.059s	17
18	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:36.464	+7.062s	17
19	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo Ferrari	1:37.450	+8.048s	22
20	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Mercedes	1:39.698	+10.296s	15

Sergio Perez beat 7 of his rivals to finish 6th in the warm-up session. Fernando Alonso, who is running Alpine’s new floor this weekend, was 7th, and Sebastian Vettel an encouraging 8th for Aston Martin. Yuki Tsunoda was the leading AlphaTauri, which this weekend features a heavily revised floor, in 9th, with Mercedes’ George Russell completing the top 10.

Valtteri Bottas was 11the for Alfa Romeo, ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, with Alpine driver Esteban Ocon – who had an engine change before the session – coming 12th in his car featured aerodynamic changes. Lando Norris recovered to the pits after his spin into the gravel and ended the day with the 14th fastest time. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo was 13th.

Lance Stroll was 16th, with Alex Albon seven seconds off the pace in the leading Williams. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton left it very late to complete a lap on the intermediates and complained of tire warm-up struggles on his way to 18th. Zhou Guanyu was 19th for Alfa Romeo, with Nicholas Latifi – who ran off track early in the session – completing the classification for Williams, 10.2s off the top spot.