Ferrari 1-2 in practice at Imola ahead of qualifying

IMOLA, Italy (AP) — Ferrari once more seems to be set to be the staff to beat this weekend as championship chief Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. had been the 2 quickest drivers in a rain-sodden first follow session for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix forward of qualifying for the dash later Friday.

The 2 drivers happy the passionate, red-clad “tifosi” dwelling followers by exchanging the lead a number of instances at Imola, on the observe named after the Italian staff’s founder and his son: Enzo and Dino Ferrari.

Leclerc, who has received two of the three opening races, finally proved quickest, 0.877 seconds forward of Sainz. It was a becoming approach for Sainz to mark the signing of a brand new contract on Thursday.

World champion Max Verstappen was third quickest in his Crimson Bull, 1.465 behind Leclerc. Nobody else was inside three seconds of Leclerc. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton struggled once more because the Mercedes driver was solely 18th quickest and greater than seven seconds off the tempo.

It had been raining all morning at Imola, and though the downpour had eased initially of the session, it began falling tougher once more about midway by way of.

A number of vehicles ended up sliding off the observe and Leclerc spun twice. The session was additionally briefly red-flagged when Lando Norris ended up within the gravel.

Due to the circumstances and qualifying later within the afternoon, groups had been eager to protect the vehicles. Nonetheless, it was a tremendous balancing act as this was the primary time a lot of the drivers had examined the vehicles within the rain, and it was nonetheless anticipated to be moist later within the day.

The Emilia-Romagna GP sees the return of the dash. As an alternative of the same old three practices to become familiar with the automobile, there shall be just one follow adopted by qualifying on Friday for Saturday’s dash. The outcomes set the grid for Sunday’s important race and provide factors for the highest eight finishers.

The rain did little to dampen the spirit of the followers, who lastly have one thing to cheer after a number of years of disappointment for Ferrari.

Imola returned to the F1 calendar in 2020 after a 14-year absence, however that is the primary time in three editions that followers have been allowed in due to the coronavirus pandemic. Greater than 120,000 tickets have been bought for the weekend.

Leclerc leads the championship by 34 factors over Mercedes driver George Russell. Sainz is third, 38 factors behind his teammate.

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Extra AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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