Carlos Sainz dreams of the podium in free practice and Fernando Alonso is thirteenth | Formula 1

Although Red Bull was expected to take a step forward at Imola, Mercedes led both FP1 and FP2. In both sessions Bottas set the fastest time ahead of Hamilton. The team that does seem to have progressed towards the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix has been Ferrari, which suggests that Carlos Sainz and Leclerc could fight for the podium. Regarding the last practice session, Pierre Gasly, with AlphaTauri was behind Bottas and Hamilton, while Carlos Sainz was fourth. The Madrilenian set a better time than Leclerc, fifth in Free Practice 2. This was not the case in the first session, where the Monegasque rider was fourth behind Verstappen while Sainz was sixth behind Gasly. Just behind Carlos Sainz was Fernando Alonso in Free Practice 1. With his eighth position, Alpine seemed to have taken a step forward in the face of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix thanks to the novelties presented by his car on the ground and in the diffuser . However, Alonso could only be thirteenth in Free Practice 2. Nor has his teammate, Esteban Ocon, who was eleventh, entered the top-10. It should be noted that the Frenchman was involved in an accident without consequences with Sergio Pérez that relegated him to seventeenth position in FP1. Both in FP1 and FP2, the Red Bull drivers have had problems. Verstappen, for example, was only able to complete five laps after hitting the wall, relegating him to fourteenth place in this run. Sergio Pérez, meanwhile, was sixth behind Leclerc and ahead of Tsunoda, the other AlphaTauri rider.Ferrari better than McLaren at Imola While both Ferrari and AlphaTauri appear to be the teams that have made the most progress at Imola, McLaren has taken a step back. Lando Norris was eighth in FP2 and Ricciardo eighteenth. In Free Practice 1 Ricciardo was tenth and Norris thirteenth. McLaren’s position invites optimism from both Carlos Sainz and Leclerc who aim to take Ferrari to third place in the Constructors’ World Championship, Alpine’s direct rival in the fight for points at Aston Martin, which has started discreetly in Imola. While in FP1 Stroll was eighth behind Fernando Alonso, in FP2 he was tenth ahead of Esteban Ocon. Sebastian Vettel, for his part, still hasn’t got hold of his new car and has been fourteenth and fifteenth in FP1 and FP2 respectively. Yes, his car has slipped into the top 10 Antonio Giovinazzi, ninth in the second session with the Alfa Romeo. The surprise in Free 1 was Latifi, ninth with Williams. The step forward of this team in Imola confirms Haas as the worst team on the grid. Thus, it seems difficult that Mick Schumacher can shine in a circuit that was very favorable to his father. The Kaiser’s son was nineteenth in both FP1 and FP2, sessions in which he finished ahead of his teammate Nikita Mazepin FP2 results at Imola FP2 CLASSIFICATION 📊 A clean Friday sweep for @ ValtteriBottas 💪 # ImolaGP 🇮🇹 # F1 pic.twitter.com/TcNcQ1nVAV – Formula 1 (@ F1) April 16, 2021