Oscar Piastri ended up on top in FP3 of F1 Imola GP after late red flag hampered running, ahead of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.
The off-moments in F1 Imola GP weekend continued on and this time it resulted in two red flag periods. This hampered the late soft tyre run which caused some hairy moments as drivers rushed to get a clean lap in their qualifying run.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was involved with teammate Carlos Sainz along with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. At the same time, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen had a grass moment while avoiding the pair of Visa Cash App RB cars going slowly.
The initial red flag was for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who ran wide and lost control in the left-hander to hit the barrier. Post the re-start, as things got going, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ran the kerb too much to go straight onto the barrier.
Before Perez’s hit, Piastri already set a 1m15.529s which stayed as the best of the lot for the Australian to set the pace in FP3 of F1 Imola GP. It ended up being a McLaren 1-2, when Lando Norris (1m15.829s) was one of the few drivers to improve.
Piastri had a gravel moment too but he managed to save it. The McLaren drivers dropped Sainz and Leclerc to third and fourth after the two were unable to improve in their last attempt, as Mercedes’ George Russell ended up in fifth.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was seventh after he was unable to set a lap time on the soft compound, with Williams’ Alexander Albon in seventh from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg in the Top 10.
Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo was 11th from Perez, who had his best time on the medium as well, like the other Visa Cash App RB of Yuki Tsunoda. Stake F1 Team’s Valtteri Bottas was 14th from Williams’ Logan Sargeant, despite the gravel moment for him.
Behind him was Magnussen in 16th from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, Alonso, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Stake F1 Team’s Zhou Guanyu. The Brit struggled with the ride height, as the Spaniard had his best on the hard and the Frenchman on the medium.
UPDATE: Visa Cash App RB was handed a 5,000 euros fine for Ricciardo’s impeding of Magnussen after the chequered flag in FP3 when the Australian and his teammate Tsunoda were going slowly to get to the finish line to start their practice start.
The stewards don’t investigate impeding in practice but since this case was particularly dangerous, they had a look at it. Considering the several mitigating circumstances whether red flag or so, the stewards decided to impose a fine on the team for not alerting their drivers in timely manner.
Here’s what was said after Friday in F1 Imola GP
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