Several cars dared to start the one-hour session – the only pre-qualifier training available on the first sprint weekend of the season – before Valteri Botas and the Haas duo appeared after the first five minutes.
They were soon followed by the rest of the group, who climbed the track in handcuffs and wrestling, with Alfa Romeo’s decision to send Botas first awarded a benchmark for early first place as he warmed his tires ahead of those still get out of the pits – all cars go full wet first.
The initial fastest lap of Bottas was 1m43.277s, which was briefly defeated by Kevin Magnussen at 1m42.539s on the Dane’s first pilot before Bottas came again to continue ahead with 1m40.216s.
Many drivers had off-piste moments during the early run, with the Variante Alta curbs and stopping down for the first Rivazza being particularly challenging – Leclerc spun in the first and Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon slid into the gravel in the second.
One driver who had no early dramas was Verstappen, who scored 1m39.595s in his first lap of time and moved properly to the top of the time, with 10 minutes completed.
Leclerc then jumped ahead with 1m39.325s, before Verstappen responded with two better efforts, which brought the fastest time to 1m36.158s.
After the first 20 minutes, Leclerc went back 1m35.629s – then spun wildly through the Acque Minerali sequence, the championship leader put his left wheels on the curbs as he exited the first half and then spun in the second before go again.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36
Photo: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Perez moved forward with 1m35.476s, before a lull in the process around the middle of the road overtook several drivers – including the Aston Martin pair – to embark on the intermediate for the first time.
It took 15 minutes before the green-tire driver topped Perez’s previous best, with Sainz doing it with 1m33.716s and then saving a big side click by coming out of the chic Tamburello on the next lap of his run. which nevertheless ended in another fastest time – 1m32.606s.
Leclerc then used his forwarding to return to 1m32.512s – but only after turning halfway, leaving Villeneuve ahead of the lap.
The Monegasque driver seemed ready to go faster again before concluding and had to break the Variante Alta sequence, after which he gave a draw to Sainz, who ran down into the pits straight, while the Spaniard returned to first place at 1m30.803s .
Entering the last 15 minutes and Verstappen joined the battle of interests, managing to get closer to the Ferrari drivers during their early laps than the others, albeit with a few seconds deviation in 1m32s.
With just under 10 minutes left – after Verstappen had to give up a lap that would have set a personal best after encountering Nicolas Latifi passing slowly through the first Rivazza – Leclerc went back 1m29.402s.
Verstappen managed to improve to 1m30.867s – 1.455s from Leclerc’s best effort – before the last minutes, which were interrupted by a short period of red flag after Norris jumped into the gravel in the last parts of Acque Minerali.
In a very similar incident to Leclerc’s earlier, the McLaren driver touched curbs at the exit on the initial right-hand slope, but went faster and farther – he seemed to be stuck in the gravel and control of the race stopped the session.
But Norris managed to retire quickly and the session resumed for the last two minutes, during which only Alex Albon set a personal record and Botas entered the run-off at Acque Minerali, as Leclerc and Norris had before him – stopped just before the barriers.
Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW44, leaves the track
Photo: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Alban’s improvement moved him to 17th place – ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with George Russell leading the Mercedes striker in the top 10, and the younger Briton’s car at one point appeared exclusively at the end of the meandering major rights, sending sparks from the floor every time you hit the ground.
Hamilton was the only driver not to set a personal record at the inters, eventually just over seven seconds behind Leclerc’s lead, with Russell more than two seconds faster.
Botas was just outside the top 10, his late spin starting the same way as Leclerc and Norris, but with the boldest spin of all three and then crashing into the gravel as he tried to return, the session was over.
The remaining 10 runners behind the top three were led by the Haas duo, with Magnussen and Mick Schumacher rising just before the red flag.
Then came Perez, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, with Yuki Tsunoda ninth for AlphaTauri.
Norris finished 14th, with Latifi entering the gravel at Phoebe Tosa’s early laps, lifting the back of the field.
F1 Emilia Romagna GP – FP1 results
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