IMOLA, Italy — Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc topped both of Friday’s practice sessions for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the famed Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
After leading the first session, Leclerc, who entered the event third in the standings, turned a best lap of 1 minute and 15.906 seconds to lead the second session and put Ferrari on top for the day.
“The feeling with the car is quite good, the upgrades on the car are working as expected which also is a good step,” Leclerc said. “And yeah, it’s been a very smooth day so it is great, and being at home is always a special feeling for Ferrari, being here and having so much support all over the track means so much for all of us.
“It will be great if the weekend continues in that direction. However, tomorrow the conditions will change massively. The wind will completely turn around, which will have a big effect on all the cars, and there we have to be the best at anticipating those changes.”
McLaren wheelman Oscar Piastri was second overall, .192 seconds behind Leclerc.
Yuki Tsunoda was third for the Visa Cash App RB team, while Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell rounded out the top five.
World champion and point leader Max Verstappen was seventh for Red Bull.
“It was a difficult day today. It was tricky to get a good balance and we were not really feeling comfortable within the car. It was moving around a lot and was very easy to lose the car at some points on the track,” Verstappen said. “There are a few things we have to look at after today as our performance wasn’t as good as expected and we were not comfortable. We also struggled on the long runs, so there are definitely a few things to improve on if we are going to be competitive in qualifying. Today we were just off the pace, however, this is still the practice session so we will look at what we can do ahead of tomorrow and see how the weekend goes.”
Nico Hulkenberg was ninth for Haas F1, while American Logan Sargeant was slowest in the 20-car field for Williams.