F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: George Russell fastest ahead of Sprint
23rd April 2022Although Mercedes had a poor qualifying on Friday, their young Briton George Russell secured the fastest lap of the weekend’s final practice session, ahead of the sprint race.
How second practice unfolded…
In the final practice session, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was the first driver to venture out onto the Imola Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari. But, the drivers are locked into Parc Ferme conditions, as a result of Friday’s qualifying, which means no set-up changes can be made on their cars – only minor adjustments (front wing, fuel etc.).
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo remained inside his garage as practice got underway as the mechanics worked on an issue with his car. This was the same for Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas who remained in his garage while his mechanics fixed a continued issue from qualifying.
As the session crept over its first quarter mark, both Red Bull’s occupied the top two places on the timing board with Sergio Perez ahead of Max Verstappen with a lap time of 1:19.815 while Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda occupied third, 0.773 seconds slower. However, both Red Bull’s were on the soft compound tyres and Tsunoda was on the medium compound.
Despite a poor qualifying session on Friday, ahead of the sprint today, Hamilton clocked the second fastest time with just over 40 minutes to go – 0.208s behind Perez. On the other side of the 40 minute mark, it was reported that McLaren’s Lando Norris had an brake issue with his car.
As the final practice session reached its halfway mark, Mercedes’ George Russell topped the timing board with a 1:19.457, 0.333 seconds quicker than Perez. This then demoted the Red Bull driver and Hamilton down to second and third respectively.
By the last 10 minutes, no one had been able to beat Russell’s impressive time on the soft compound tyres. While Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc managed to slot in the third fastest lap behind Perez – who set his fastest time on the medium compound.
That’s it for the article: F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix: George Russell fastest ahead of Sprint! A change of pace for Mercedes, where do you think they’ll finish in the sprint race? 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.