F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc top in wet practice
22nd April 2022Ferrari Media: Carlos Sainz, ahead of the 2022 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the time sheets on a soaked Imola track, one second clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, ahead of qualifying in the first sprint weekend of the season.
How practice unfolded…
In the crucial first practice session of the weekend, which qualifying would later follow, when the pit exit light went green, no one went out onto the wet track.
With just over 56 minutes to go, on the clock, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was the first driver to venture out with the full, blue-ringed, wet tyres. Haas’ Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen quickly followed the Finn out.
Within the first quarter of FP1, Verstappen secured the fastest lap with a 1:37.247. However, on a flying lap, Vettel almost ended up in the gravel trap as the four-time world champion locked up into the penultimate corners.
It wasn’t long before Leclerc topped the session with a 1:35.629, 0.529 seconds faster than Verstappen while his his teammate, Carlos Sainz, put in the second fastest lap in the mid-stage of practice.
As the first session came closer to its halfway mark, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez toppled Leclerc from the top spot with a 1:35.479 lap around the, now, damp circuit.
Expectedly, due to the nature of the wet tyres – which removes around 85 litres of water a second, at 300kph, there was already talk of drivers to switch their full wets for the green-ringed, intermediate tyres.
With 30 minutes left, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was the first to swap over to the intermediates – which removes 30 litres of water a second, at 300kph. As a result, he managed to put in the fourth fastest time with a 1:36.131 (0.655 seconds slower than Perez).
As more drivers opted to use the intermediate tyres, the lap times began to tumble.
McLaren’s Lando Norris put in the second fastest lap a 1:35.502 (0.026s slower than Perez). Sainz, on the inters, quickly leapfrogged over his former teammate to go at the top of the timesheets with a 1:32.606, nearly three seconds quicker than Perez.
Leclerc finally topped the time sheets with a 1:29.402, 0.877 seconds clear of Sainz. However, with six minutes left on the clock, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and the Williams’ of Alexander Albon were the only drivers yet to complete a flying lap on the intermediates. As a result, Hamilton was sat P17 and Albon was P19.
As the session came into its final minutes, the red flag was waved as Norris looked to be beached into the gravel trap on the exit of turn 12. However, the Briton was able to get himself out of the gravel and get moving again.
The red flag was quickly removed, after the field returned to the pit lane, and the drivers quickly rushed back out onto Imola’s circuit.
After the session had ended, Alfa Romeo had drama as Bottas was found to be on the edge of the gravel trap at turn 12 – with his nose nearly in the barrier. Despite his best efforts to get his car back to the pit lane, his car soon became beached in the gravel trap.
That’s it for the article: F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc top in wet practice! Qualifying is next, who will get pole position? Let us know in the comments!
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.