Despite the presence of rain at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari Autodrome, which had complicated the previous sessions of Formula 2 and Formula 3, the single-seaters of the highest category took to the Imola asphalt to dispute the first and only free practice session of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Due to the sprint format, the rush to get out on the track was noticeable in the first minutes of FP1, as almost all the drivers took to the track to shoot very early, looking for the best possible configuration for their cars before reaching qualifying. , which will take place this afternoon, specifically at 5:00 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time).
After 60 minutes of continuous spins and exits due to the wetness of the asphalt, Carlos Sainz led the time table with a XXX, ahead of Charles Leclerc. Both Ferrari drivers were fighting throughout the session for the first position, leaving very positive feelings and great superiority over the rest of the teams.
Behind, although more than a second, Max Verstappen completed the first three positions in FP1, ahead of some surprising Haas with Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher in fourth and fifth position respectively, both ahead of Sergio Pérez, the other driver from Red Bull.
Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Yuki Tsunoda and George Russell completed the top 10, although in the final minutes the track improved noticeably and the drivers who were able to cross the finish line later had an advantage, so representation of these times might not be reflected in the classification within a few hours.
Closing out the grid, Nicholas Latifi’s Williams took last position, behind Guanyu Zhou’s car. Ahead of them in eighteenth position, Lewis Hamilton surprised again for the worse by failing to find the rhythm behind the wheel of his Mercedes.
With the checkered flag, Valtteri Bottas lost control of his car and was nowhere near hitting the protections of the track. However, his car got stuck on the gravel run-off and he needed the help of the stewards to get back to the garage.
Results of Free Practice 1 of the Emilia Romagna GP 2022 F1
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
24 | 1’29.402 | 197.673 | ||
| two |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
|
25 | 1’30,279 | 0.877 | 0.877 | 195,753 |
| 3 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
21 | 1’30.867 | 1.465 | 0.588 | 194.486 |
| 4 |  Kevin Magnussen |
 |
23 | 1’32.439 | 3.037 | 1.572 | 191.179 |
| 5 |  Mick Schumacher |
 |
23 | 1’32.988 | 3.586 | 0.549 | 190.050 |
| 6 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
17 | 1’33.012 | 3,610 | 0.024 | 190,001 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
13 | 1’33.160 | 3.758 | 0.148 | 189.699 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel |
 |
22 | 1’33.365 | 3.963 | 0.205 | 189.282 |
| 9 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
18 18 | 1’33.611 | 4.209 | 0.246 | 188.785 |
| 10 |  George Russell |
 |
21 | 1’34.262 | 4.860 | 0.651 | 187.481 |
| see results | |||||||
Gallery: the best photos from FP1 of the 2022 Emilia Romagna GP at Imola
Photo by: LAT Images
Photo by: LAT Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo by: LAT Images
Photo de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Photo by: Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images
Photo de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Summary of Free Practice 1 of the Emilia Romagna GP 2022 Formula 1
With updates to the vast majority of cars and taking into account that they only had an hour of free practice before reaching this afternoon’s qualifying, almost all the drivers took to the track in the first 10 minutes of the session on extreme wet tires due to to the large amount of rain that fell on the Italian track.
During the first minutes, many were the pilots who tried the run-offs of grass and gravel, although luckily, none forced to stop the session. After 15 minutes of very slow times, the first times below 1:40 began to appear.
After 20 minutes of FP1, the two Ferrari cars were leading the time table. Leclerc with a 1:35.629 was in first place, a tenth ahead of Sainz and with the rest of the peloton (with the exception of Verstappen) more than a second behind.
Arriving halfway through the session, practically all the drivers returned to the pits. At the same time, the rain began to loosen up and the idea of mounting the intermediate tire to have some reference before qualifying grew by the minute.
Sebastian Vettel and Aston Martin were the first to dare to go out on the track with the intermediate tire and already on his first lap he placed fifth, improving his previous time with the extreme rain compound by 2.5 seconds.
Despite the demonstration of the veteran German driver, during the following minutes and with the exception of his teammate Lance Stroll and Lando Norris, everyone returned to the asphalt with extreme rain tires. Entering the last 25 minutes of FP1, Sergio Pérez stole the first position from the Ferraris by registering a time of 1:35.476.
Dangerously approaching the end of the session, Ferrari and most of the teams started testing the intermediate tyre, with some scares including that of Kevin Magnussen, who came very close to causing the first red flag of the Emilia Romagna GP by losing control of his Haas.
Carlos Sainz’s early times on the intermediate tire clearly reflected the improvement in track conditions, placing first with a 1m32.606s on his second lap on intermediate tyres. A few seconds later, Leclerc improved that time by thousandths; 1:32,512.
In the last 10 minutes, the asphalt conditions and almost all drivers improved their times before Lando Norris staged the first red flag of the weekend.
Finally, Charles Leclerc set the fastest time with a 1:29.402, ahead of Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen and the two Haas drivers. Fernando Alonso also rose, placing seventh behind Sergio Pérez, while the biggest negative surprise was Lewis Hamilton, who failed to get past 18th position.
