Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest in F1 Imola GP FP3 from McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Just like how it was in FP1 and FP2, the FP3 in F1 Imola GP also saw a stoppage courtesy of Williams’ Nicholas Latifi. The session was red-flagged, but the Canadian managed to get through it after losing mid-corner and going through the gravel trap.
It was not easy for anyone with offs for Alfa Romeo Racing pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi too, while track limits at Turn 9 (mostly) and Turn 15, caught out many. The FIA Race Director struck off track limits for Turn 13, before the session.
Despite the disruption and track limits situation, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest with a 1m14.958s lap from McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m15.414s) and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m15.515s) – where both the Dutchman and the latter Brit had scrappy moments.
The other Red Bull of Sergio Perez (1m15.551s) slotted in fourth from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m15.738s), with his teammate Carlos Sainz (1m15.908s) in seventh behind AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m15.890s).
The Frenchman was the only one to set his best time on the medium tyres, as the Top 10 of F1 Imola GP FP3 then had Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas (1m15.908s) and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m16.168s) and Esteban Ocon (1m16.228s).
Missing out in the Top 10 was AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, who was not happy with the traffic, after being unexpectedly slowed multiple times. He led Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with teammate Sebastian Vettel in 14th, behind McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Williams’ George Russell was 15th with teammate Latifi in 17th, behind Haas’ Mick Schumacher, who had issues but managed a good lap in the end. The Alfa Romeo pair didn’t manage a good lap to be 18th and 19th only.
It was Giovinazzi ahead of Raikkonen, whereas Haas’ Nikita Mazepin was 20th – the Russian managed to keep the car on track this time.
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Here’s what was said on Friday of F1 Imola GP