AGI – Work, news and surprises on Friday of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix: a day entirely dedicated to free practice which took place along the Imola circuit. It is the seventh round of the World Championship, the first on European soil, where many teams are looking for confirmation and improvements after their respective aerodynamic developments. Big news, first of all, for Ferrari, the last team to bring the first updates of the championship, putting an extremely revised single-seater on the track with encouraging results starting from FP1, which saw Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in first respectively (1′ 16″990) and third (1’17″094) position on the time table. The Monegasque driver himself appeared in great shape, on whose car an almost total change of the power unit was made – already the third unit of the season used by Ferrari – following some problems identified at the end of the weekend in Miami, where he was among the other has already been fitted with a new engine.
A positive performance by the Red Team, also confirmed in FP2 by Leclerc himself, with the number 16 repeating the best result on the grid, even gaining more than a second per lap. McLaren is also looking for confirmation, having won the last Grand Prix in Miami with Lando Norris and bringing the complete package of developments – already adopted in the United States on the Briton’s car – also on Oscar Piastri’s car. The Australian driver then finished in second position in the second free practice session, confirming the positive performance of a high-performance car both on the flying lap and on the long run tests. A few more problems, however, for Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, both of which appeared to have difficulty balancing in the first session, interrupted by the red flag after about twenty minutes due to a probable electrical fault which put Alexander Albon’s Williams from the games.
In particular, the three-time world champion had difficulty with the soft compound in both free practices, with several off-track exits and stability that appeared less than optimal on his RB20. Fifth and seventh fastest times in the two sessions, in fact, for the Dutch champion, extremely critical with his garage and unusually in a disadvantageous position compared to the other forces on the track. Finally, it is worth mentioning the performance of Yuki Tsunoda, who closed the second free practice session with the third best time on the grid – after the sixth fastest time set in FP1 -, highlighting the stability of his Racing Bull unlike his teammate. of the team, Daniel Ricciardo, who did not get higher than eleventh in the afternoon run in Imola.
Leclerc, “everything went smoothly”
“It was a positive day. Everything went smoothly and we managed to carry out all the tests we had planned. For now we seem competitive, even if the conditions will change on Saturday, especially due to the wind, and so we need to prepare.” Thus Charles Leclerc, who closed Friday’s free practice at the Emilia Romagna GP by setting the best time in both FP1 and FP2. “The updates seem to be working as expected, which is another positive aspect. And on top of all this, it’s wonderful to see so many red flags in the stands,” added Leclerc.
