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Formula 1 Emilia Romagna GP

F1 Emilia Romagna GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP2 and Sprint

Saturday's action from Imola, including the F1 sprint race

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari F1-75

Charles Leclerc leads the early F1 drivers’ world championship by 34 points from Mercedes’ George Russell, following his dominant victory at the Australian GP last time out.

Max Verstappen will start the sprint race from pole position after topping a wet qualifying at Imola on Friday afternoon ahead of Leclerc.

Final practice for the Emilia Romagna GP gets underway at 11.30am BST (12.30pm local time), followed by the sprint race which starts at 3.30pm BST (4.30pm local time).

 

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Mechanical problem
Still no sign of both McLarens and Bottas after their earlier mechanical issues. All three losing valuable running and data, with the Woking team in particular set to go into the sprint and the grand prix in the dark.
Stopwatch
That's a bit more like it from Leclerc, who goes second fastest with a 1m19.740s on the softs.
Not much headline-grabbing pace on show by the Haas pair, with Magnussen 16th and Schumacher 17th, both over three seconds off the top. But it is only practice remember.
Adrian Newey is standing at the front of the Red Bull garage with notebook in hand studying Perez's car. I wonder if he and Leclerc get their notebooks from the same place. They could, er, trade notes.
The track has gone a little quiet with teams digesting the data from the first half of the session. Both Williams are lapping, sporting a semi-livery look, as the team has stripped off the paint where possible to save weight.
Still no eye-catching lap times from the Ferrari pair, with Sainz ninth and Leclerc 10th and back in the garage, but that's not a huge surprise given the sprint weekend format.
Stopwatch
Russell goes fastest with a 1m19.457s on the softs. A few more of those laps could raise eyebrows from Mercedes' rivals.
Not one for convention, Tsunoda is the only driver on the track on the hards, so he's definitely focusing on grand prix preparation rather than the sprint. He's currently fifth overall having set his personal best on the softs.
Stopwatch
Russell is now the closest challenger to Perez at the top of the times as he sets a 1m19.956s to go 0.141s off.
Luke Smith
Luke Smith

Trackside update

"That Ferrari looks so planted, Leclerc full of confidence in particular - and just after that, the back end steps out! There’s a big cheer from the Tifosi trackside every time he goes past, lots of fans have climbed high walls for a better view."

Quote
A double dose of bad news at McLaren following Ricciardo's earlier issue: "We're investigating a brake system issue on Lando's car which will require some time in the garage. We're aiming to get back out before the end of the session."
Luke Smith
Luke Smith

Trackside update

"Hamilton is taking a lot less kerb than the Red Bulls or Ferraris through the Variante Tamburello. I'm also seeing Gasly often ride the first part of the chicane a lot before veering wider on exit."
Stopwatch
Plenty more lap times being clocked now with 16 cars on track currently. Hamilton pops up to second place with a 1m20.023s on his first push lap on the softs.
Leclerc appears to be heavily loaded with fuel running on the mediums as he is lapping in the 1m21s-1m22s region - two seconds slower than the Red Bulls on the softs.
Sainz makes his first venture out in the session, and his first since his Q2 crash, with an installation lap to check the car over. Elsewhere, Hamilton goes over the grass at the Variante Alta chicane having outbraked himself.
Bottas is also stuck in the garage with his Alfa Romeo on the jacks being worked on by the mechanics.
Stopwatch

Perez upping the pace with a 1m19.878s to extend his advantage at the top of times. 12 minutes gone and still no lap times from 11 drivers, making this a very leisurely start to practice.

Stopwatch
Both Red Bulls are on the softs which sees Perez go top with a 1m20.447s, 0.631s quicker than Verstappen's first push effort. Fully expecting to see a handful of drivers gambling on the softs for the sprint later today.
Stopwatch
Not too many lap times clocked up in the early running but Hamilton leads from what has been delivered so far with a 1m21.880s.
Quote
Bad news for Ricciardo from McLaren: "The team are investigating an issue on Daniel's car which will delay his start to FP2. We hope to resolve the issue and get the car out before the end of the session."
In last year's sprint weekends, this was a bit of an odd session given it takes place after qualifying so it doesn't follow the familiar flow of a practice session. Lots of long running for the sprint and grand prix ahead.
Schumacher, Zhou, Russell, Vettel and Hamilton are also out on the track in the opening two minutes, aiming to maximise the dry weather running given that's what is forecast for the rest of the weekend.
Lights green
Anyway, here we go for final practice, Stroll is out on the track very early on the medium tyres.

We hope Leclerc isn't memorising the names of each of the Tifosi in the grandstands in his notebook because there are a lot of them. The stands are packed out and covered in the scarlet red of Ferrari.

Leclerc is studying his notebook in the back of the Ferrari garage ahead of final practice. We're always curious to know what he's got jotted down, track and car reminders or the menu for where he is eating tonight?
Sun
But enough about what happened yesterday, that is quite literally in the past, we've got a final hour of practice to look forward to. Dry and warm conditions greet the drivers today to provide a totally new challenge.
While it was another tough day for Mercedes, with Russell 11th and Hamilton 13th, having been off the pace and then caught out by red flags and rain in Q2.

Sainz had a nightmare in qualifying, crashing during Q2, which meant he took no part in Q3 and will start the sprint in 10th place. Norris and Magnussen, who also both had offs in qualifying, profited to take third and fourth respectively.

Here's a quick recap on Friday's action in case you missed it: Verstappen grabbed pole position ahead of Leclerc in qualifying in a session stalled by five red flags. It was wet and wild and has shaken up the grid for the sprint race.
Green flag
Hello, buongiorno and welcome to Saturday's F1 action at Imola. Coming up is the second and final practice session - remember it is the sprint race schedule format this weekend.

By: autosport.com

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