At Imola, Charles Leclerc takes on the track with determination in the enhanced SF-24.
Charles Leclerc delighted Ferrari’s Tifosi as he topped the timesheets in FP1 for the Imola Grand Prix, a tenth up on Mercedes’ George Russell.
During FP1, while all teams except RB presented numerous upgrades, there was a brief interruption when Alex Albon’s FW46 unexpectedly shut down near Acqua Minerali. As a result, a five-minute red-flag stoppage occurred.
The battle of the upgrades at Imola
During a day filled with upgrades, Ferrari and Aston Martin showcased their strength by bringing seven and nine cars to the track, respectively. Aero rakes were a common sight among the teams as they embarked on the first practice session (FP1).
Having already tested their upgrades at Fiorano last Friday, Ferrari was confident in their improvements. They chose not to use aero rakes or conduct comparison testing with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz’s SF-24s, which were equipped with the full array of upgrades.
George Russell took the lead with a time of 1:19.7, which he later improved to 1:19.0. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, who will replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari next season, had a brief encounter with Sainz.
Pierre Gasly encountered initial problems with his A524, expressing dissatisfaction with its handling. As a result, the French driver had to return to the pits, where he ended up waiting for a considerable amount of time. Yuki Tsunoda was the first to experience the new gravel traps at Imola, followed by Hamilton.
Russell regained momentum and set a new benchmark of 1:17.9. Max Verstappen secured the second position, followed by Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc. After completing nine laps, Verstappen expressed concern about his tires overheating, particularly the front ones, and decided to enter the pits.
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The session took an unexpected turn 20 minutes in, as Alex Albon, who had just signed a new contract with Williams, encountered trouble and had to stop at Acqua Minerali. It appeared that Albon’s FW46 car experienced an electrical problem and shut down abruptly.
After a brief five-minute pause, Gasly resumed his race in the Alpine, but soon encountered a rough and uncomfortable ride that hindered his visibility. In an attempt to improve his performance, Leclerc switched from using medium Pirelli tires to soft ones and achieved the fastest lap time of 1:17.4. However, Russell swiftly reclaimed the top position, only to be surpassed by Leclerc’s impressive lap time of 1:16.9.
Sainz found himself cutting the grass while pushing hard, Hamilton ended up spinning, and Verstappen expressed his frustration with the lack of grip that prevented him from braking where he desired. Despite being informed of his strong performance in sectors 1 and 3, he was losing valuable time in Turn 7, up to four-tenths. Eventually, Verstappen lost control and went off the track at Variante Alta.
Leclerc finished the session as the fastest, setting a time of 1:16.900. He was 0.104 seconds ahead of Russell, who took second place, while Sainz secured third place with a time 0.026 seconds slower than Russell.
Oliver Bearman, the Formula 2 driver, made his second appearance in a Formula 1 car this season during one of Haas’s young driver sessions, substituting for Kevin Magnussen. The British driver, who is set to participate in six races with the team this year in hopes of securing a race-seat for 2025, achieved the 15th fastest time without utilizing the soft tyres.
Times
1 Charles LECLERC 1:16.990
2 George RUSSELL +0.104
3 Carlos SAINZ +0.130
4 Sergio PEREZ +0.243
5 Max VERSTAPPEN +0.250
6 Yuki TSUNODA +0.398
7 Lewis HAMILTON +0.418
8 Lando NORRIS +0.612
9 Oscar PIASTRI +0.817
10 Fernando ALONSO +0.877
11 Pierre GASLY +0.915
12 Lance STROLL +1.082
13 Daniel RICCIARDO +1.152
14 Esteban OCON +1.622
15 Oliver BEARMAN +1.677
16 Valtteri BOTTAS +1.837
17 Guany ZHOU +2.139
18 Logan SARGEANT +2.911
19 Alexander ALBON +3.060
20 Nico HULKENBERG +4.069
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