Charles Leclerc, the Ferrari driver from Monaco, who is leading the world championship points race, was the fastest in the first free practice of the Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Friday, organized in rainy conditions.
Behind the 24-year-old competitor, his teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr. of Spain, finished second, almost one second behind, while the defending Dutch champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) was third, but he was already almost one and a half seconds slower than Leclerc.
However, the two Haas - in which Ferrari engines work - performed well on the wet asphalt strip, Kevin Magnussen was fourth and Mick Schumacher fifth in practice.
The seven-time world champion British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) only finished in 18th place, and his brand and countryman, George Russell, finished free practice in 10th position.
The first sprint race weekend of this year's Formula 1 season will be held in Imola out of the three previously planned. This means that the qualifying session will be held on Friday (today) at 5 p.m., and the starting order for the 100 kilometer sprint race that will take place this Saturday afternoon will be established. There is no mandatory pit stop in the short-distance race, but unlike last year, this year not only the first three, but the first eight places will receive world championship points in a distribution of 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. According to the final result of the sprint race, the competitors will line up on the grid for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix starting at 15:00 on Sunday. This arrangement allows only two free practice instead of three, the second one will be held on Saturday, before the sprint race. Last year, the first place on the grid was awarded to the competitor who triumphed in the sprint race, but this year, this has also been changed, the pole position in the official statistics will go to the fastest driver of Friday's time trial.
Results, 1st free practice (leading group):
1. Charles Leclerc (Monaco, Ferrari) 1:29.402 min
2. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spain, Ferrari) 1:30.279
3. Max Verstappen (Dutch, Red Bull) 1:30.867
4. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark, Haas) 1:32.439
5. Mick Schumacher (Germany, Haas) 1:32.988
6. Sergio Pérez (Mexico, Red Bull) 1:33.012
The additional program:
time trial 17.00
Saturday:
2nd free practice 12.30 p.m
sprint race 4.30 p.m
Sunday:
race 15.00
(Source: Source: sportrajongo.hu, mti/Photo: pixabay)