FP1: Bottas fastest as Perez and Ocon clash
Sunny skies greeted the Formula One circus at Imola as teams and drivers started their on-track preparations for this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas made the most of it and ended the session on top.
Though the Finn emerged on top of the timing sheets, his competition wasn't far off. Team mate Lewis Hamilton ended up just 0.041s slower, closely followed by Red Bull's Max Verstappen at 0.058s.
The session was highlighted by a red flag, caused by a coming together of Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull RB16B. The two came together, sending Perez into a spin due to a rear puncture caused by the accident at the Villeneuve chicane. Esteban Ocon parked his car a bit earlier and had it craned away before the session could get started again, 8 minutes later.
Behind the leading three, Charles Leclerc again shows promising pace for Ferrari in 4th, topping the AlhpaTauri of Pierre Gasly and the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
2005 San Marino Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso ended up 7th despite spending most of the session completing aero runs as Alpine were validating an updated aerodynamic package on their A521.
Aston Martin's Lance Stroll was 8th fastest, followed by Latifi in 9th for Williams and Daniel Ricciardo completed the top 10.
Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:16.564 | - | 23 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:16.605 | +0.041s | 25 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:16.622 | +0.058s | 21 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:16.796 | +0.232s | 13 |
| 5 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri Honda | 1:16.888 | +0.324s | 21 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:16.888 | +0.324s | 26 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine Renault | 1:17.457 | +0.893s | 23 |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Mercedes | 1:17.489 | +0.925s | 19 |
| 9 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams Mercedes | 1:17.739 | +1.175s | 24 |
| 10 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren Mercedes | 1:17.769 | +1.205s | 23 |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | Williams Mercedes | 1:17.866 | +1.302s | 25 |
| 12 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:17.883 | +1.319s | 16 |
| 13 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 1:17.935 | +1.371s | 16 |
| 14 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin Mercedes | 1:17.984 | +1.420s | 23 |
| 15 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1:18.058 | +1.494s | 24 |
| 16 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda | 1:18.228 | +1.664s | 15 |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 1:18.360 | +1.796s | 20 |
| 18 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas Ferrari | 1:18.823 | +2.259s | 22 |
| 19 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas Ferrari | 1:19.480 | +2.916s | 18 |
| 20 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri Honda | 1:19.781 | +3.217s | 11 |
