Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was quickest in both Friday Practice Sessions at Imola, Italy for the start of the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend. Imola did not host a Grand Prix last year due to extreme flooding in the Emilia Romagna area of Northern Italy.
Ferrari reported the day's program was packed, based on evaluating the update package on the SF-24 which is making its debut this weekend.
"It has been a positive day overall. Everything went smoothly and we ran all the tests we planned on track," said Leclerc, adding, "The updates seem to be working as expected, which is another positive."
The first of several surprises of the day was that the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez never broke into the top five of FP2 - the quicker qualifying session.
"It was a difficult day today. It was tricky to get a good balance and we were not really feeling comfortable within the car. It was moving around a lot and was very easy to lose the car at some points on the track." said Verstappen, who ran his RB20 wide twice in the first practice session and again in the second session.
A more pleasant surprise for two teams were the second and third quickest times; which were run by McLaren's Oscar Piastri (2nd) and RB Visa's Yuki Tsunoda (3rd).
"Friday done. I think it's been one of our better Fridays and we seem to be in a pretty good place," said Piastri. "The team have done a good job with getting the remaining upgrades on my car, so thank you to them."
"I'm feeling good. It's been a very positive and consistent day for us straight from FP1, and I'm excited for the coming days of our home race," said Tsunoda, whose team is based in Faenza, Italy.
The W15's of Mercedes were fourth and fifth quickest (Hamilton, Russell) in FP2.
FP2 Results Summary - Leclerc, Piastri, Tsunoda, Hamilton, Russell, Sainz, Verstappen, Perez, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Ricciardo, Norris, Stroll, Ocon, Gasly, Bottas, Magnussen, Albon, Zhou, Sargeant
FP1 Results Summary - Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Perez, Verstappen, Tsunoda, Hamilton, Norris, Piastri, Alonso, Gasly, Stroll, Ricciardo, Ocon, Bearman, Bottas, Zhou, Sargeant, Albon, Hulkenberg
Imola FP2 Results
Pos Driver Team Tyre Time Gap
1 Leclerc Ferrari S 1:15.906 144.671 mph
2 Piastri McLaren S 1:16.098 0.192
3 Tsunoda RB S 1:16.286 0.380
4 Hamilton Mercedes S 1:16.297 0.391
5 Russell Mercedes S 1:16.311 0.405
6 Sainz Ferrari S 1:16.423 0.517
7 Verstappen Red Bull S 1:16.447 0.541
8 Perez Red Bull S 1:16.552 0.646
9 Hulkenberg Haas S 1:16.826 0.920
10 Alonso Aston Martin S 1:16.838 0.932
11 Ricciardo RB S 1:16.967 1.061
12 Norris McLaren M 1:16.980 1.074
13 Stroll Aston Martin S 1:16.991 1.085
14 Ocon Alpine S 1:17.008 1.102
15 Gasly Alpine S 1:17.064 1.158
16 Bottas Stake S 1:17.088 1.182
17 Magnussen Haas S 1:17.129 1.223
18 Albon Williams S 1:17.135 1.229
19 Zhou Stake S 1:17.606 1.700
20 Sargeant Williams S 1:17.848 1.942
Imola FP1 Results
Pos Driver Team Tyre Time Gap
1 Leclerc Ferrari S 1:16.990 142.634 mph
2 Russell Mercedes S 1:17.094 0.104
3 Sainz Ferrari S 1:17.120 0.130
4 Perez Red Bull S 1:17.233 0.243
5 Verstappen Red Bull S 1:17.240 0.250
6 Tsunoda RB S 1:17.388 0.398
7 Hamilton Mercedes S 1:17.408 0.418
8 Norris McLaren S 1:17.602 0.612
9 Piastri McLaren S 1:17.807 0.817
10 Alonso Aston Martin S 1:17.867 0.877
11 Gasly Alpine S 1:17.905 0.915
12 Stroll Aston Martin S 1:18.072 1.082
13 Ricciardo RB S 1:18.142 1.152
14 Ocon Alpine S 1:18.612 1.622
15 Bearman Haas S 1:18.667 1.677
16 Bottas Stake S 1:18.827 1.837
17 Zhou Stake S 1:19.129 2.139
18 Sargeant Williams M 1:19.901 2.911
19 Albon Williams H 1:20.050 3.060
20 Hulkenberg Haas S 1:21.059 4.069
w/ Scuderia Ferrari F1 Media