#EmiliaRomagnaGP FP1 Report: @CharlesLeclerc edges @GeorgeRussell63 by 0.104s. #F1

Leclerc Emilia Romagna FP1 – Charles Leclerc was quickest in a red-flagged opening FP1 session at the Scuderia’s home Emilia Romagna GP ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top three in the other SF-24 entry as championship leader Max Verstappen suffered two wild off-track excursions.

Leclerc set the benchmark of a 1:16.990 on the C5 red side-walled Softer rubber and was 0.104 seconds quicker than Russell as Sainz was a further 0.130 behind his Ferrari team-mate in third.

Oracle Red Bull Racing left their soft tyre stints much later than its rivals – emerging with 15 minutes remaining on the clock.

Verstappen also had to return to the pits to remove a visor tear-off being stuck in the rear brake duct of his RB20 racer, which meant the Dutchman had done more miles on that tyre than ideal.

When the championship leader did get going, Verstappen posted the quickest efforts in sectors one and three, but a slow sector two left him in fifth place of the order behind team-mate Sergio Perez and 0.250 off Leclerc’s benchmark.

On his second attempt, Verstappen again went quickest in sector one and was 0.006 seconds up on Leclerc after the middle sector, but when braking for the Variante Alta chicane, the rear of his RB20 racer stepped out and the Red Bull driver was forced to cut the chicane – as Sainz done earlier.

On his third softs attempt in the session’s final moments, Verstappen posted another purple opening sector but then understeered off at high-speed through the second part of Acque Minerali and had to skid through the gravel trap.

Yuki Tsunoda placed sixth for RB just up the road from it’s home in Faenza, with the other Mercedes F1 W15 of Sir Lewis Hamilton seventh.

The seven-time world champion also had a mid-session scary moment when he spun at Acque Minerali with just over 20 minutes left after jumping the inside kerb hard in his F1 W15, which fastly went around and darted him off-track but not far enough from whacking the wall.

McLaren pairing Lando Norris (winner of the Miami GP last time out) and Oscar Piastri took eighth and ninth as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.

BWT Alpine F1 Team duo Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon finished opening practice in 11^th and 14^th respectively as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo sandwiched in 12^th and 13^th.

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team reserve Oliver Bearman in place for regular Kevin Magnussen for FP1 ended the session in 14^th and ahead of Sauber pairing Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu who came 16^th and 17th respectively in the classification.

Williams Racing duo Logan Sargeant and Alexander Albon were 18^th and 19^th as MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg brought up the rear.

Albon brought out the session’s only red flag after his Mercedes-powered FW46 entry shut down after he hit the kerb hard and ran down the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari from Piratella to Acque Minerali, where the Thai-Briton driver stopped on the inside.

You can see the full Formula 1 MSC Cruises Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell’Emilia Romagna 2024 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1235/italy/practice-1.html

@alex_albon commits his future to @WilliamsRacing. #F1

#F1 MSC Cruises Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell’Emilia Romagna 2024 Preview. #EmiliaRomagnaGP