Lewis Hamilton ends his Friday in Romagna with confidence. The “Black King”, in fact, is fourth in the standings at the end of the first two free practice sessions of the Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with positive insights into his W15. On the Imola track the English driver experienced a day with ups and downs, but with the feeling that he can do well on this layout.
In any case, the best overall time was set by Charles Leclerc in 1:15.906 with 192 thousandths of an advantage over Oscar Piastri, 380 over Yuki Tsunoda and 391 over Lewis Hamilton. Fifth was George Russell at 405 thousandths, sixth was Carlos Sainz at 517, then seventh and eighth were the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen (+0.541) and Sergio Perez (+0.646), then ninth was Nico Hulkenberg at 920 and Fernando Alonso was tenth at 932.
At the end of Friday in Imola, the Mercedes team driver spoke about his feelings, without hiding a hint of optimism: “Without a doubt a good start to the weekend. The car responded well and we feel much closer to our rivals than in previous races. However, we know well that it will take patience and feet firmly on the ground in view of tomorrow. The improvements? The team did a great job and it’s showing on the track.”
