Leclerc is the fastest ahead of Russell and Sainz. Bad Verstappen, fifth

Ferrari makes Imola smile, Verstappen has never been in such difficulty

Air of home, wind of novelty. Many in the car, some not foreseen. Like the third engine of the season, fitted following a small alarm encountered at the end of the Miami race. Imola “all in” for Ferrari, called to get closer to Red Bull and respond to McLaren’s success in the USA. The start is right: in the first free practice Leclerc was the fastest, followed by the new engineer Bryan Bozzi who replaced Xavi Marcos.

Charles immediately drove on a severe track that does not forgive the slightest error: a strong signal, he had no problems adapting to the advanced single seater, a package that should guarantee an improvement of around 3 tenths. Sainz also pushed, third behind Russell, confirming a car that is easy to push to the limit. We are only at the beginning so any judgment must be taken with a pinch of salt but in the battle of updates (here Red Bull, Aston Martin and Mercedes have brought their innovations) Ferrari can have a good chance.

McLaren is in difficulty with Piastri and Norris at the back, but what is surprising is Verstappen’s great difficulties. Max never found the feeling, he complained about the settings, he made a series of mistakes that were not his fault which highlight the difficulty in keeping the car. He ended up behind Perez, tackling turn 12 was an ordeal and not even the set-up changes during the race improved the situation. The second free practices will be fundamental to understand if Red Bull is really beatable or if it was just a fixable mistake in the car’s configuration. Well done Ollie Bearman, fifteenth on his debut with Haas (starter Magnussen will return in the second round) drove carefully, as we had seen him do in Jeddah on the Ferrari replacing Sainz. He is proving that he deserves F1. At 5pm, in Fp2, the first truths of the weekend will emerge.

2024-05-17 13:47:23
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