The air temperature was 23 degrees, the track temperature was 43 degrees, and the weather looked good with sunshine and a little cloud cover. With less than two hours till the start of qualifying at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, a very entertaining third free practice session concluded.
That seems really near out there. Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari all appear to be competitive. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’s two McLarens have emerged from the garage, with both drivers choosing to start with the hard tire. Charles Leclerc was deployed by Ferrari on a set of the C5 soft compound, in contrast.
Sergio Perez’s Red Bull was the first driver to record a time of 1:17.682 on a set of mediums. Max Verstappen, a teammate who earlier said that the car’s performance was “bad,” appeared right behind Perez with a time on the same tire that was 0.014 seconds slower.
After temporarily leading the timesheets with a 1:17.444, Sainz was surpassed by Leclerc, who set a record with a 1:16.281. Sergio Perez managed to pass soft runner Carlo Sainz and finish in second place, but teammate Max Verstappen beat him with a time of 1:16:471, moving the Mexican to the silver medal position.
Verstappen and Charles Leclerc closed the distance on one another as they finished another amazing lap. Verstappen’s Red Bull skidded a wheel onto the kerb with his medium tires as Leclerc’s Ferrari sped through to build on his most recent poor lap. The driver from Monaco made progress to 1:16.087.
The next person to cross the finish line on the C5 soft rubber was Carlos Sainz, a Spaniard who beat his Ferrari teammate’s time by 0.020 seconds to take first place in the time trials. Lewis Hamilton was on the soft tires and in 13th position. Confused, the seven-time world champion enquired as to where those two seconds of his went.
In an instant, a yellow flag turned red! Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin had a severe collision at the last turn. “I’m OK” was verified by the Spaniard over the radio.
Alonso’s FP3 ended early after this collision with the barriers 😖#F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/oQGhdzR4h3
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 18, 2024
The Aston Martin garage will not be taking a lunch break. When Alonso entered Rivazza, the car was understeering. He drove wide and touched the kerb, but it was too late to stop the inevitable; the Spaniard crashed backward into the barriers. Alonso went to the medical center to be evaluated and to make sure there was nothing wrong after experiencing a rather serious crash.
There was a line of cars pulling out of pit lane, following the removal of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin from the gravel. Sainz was audible on the Ferrari radio at the same time, calling attention to Williams’ careless reporting. “Yeah, this was on the limit from Williams for unsafe release.”
Piastri was the first driver to attempt to beat the soft rubber time set by Carlos Sainz. With an opening offer of 1:16.257, the Australian managed to secure third position behind the two Ferraris.