George Russell Heads the Pack in Final Practice ahead of Imola Sprint Race

George Russell was perhaps the surprise pacesetter in second practice for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Saturday morning as the teams used the dry conditions at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team endured a tough Friday at Imola, with both Russell and team-mate Lewis Hamilton failing to get into Q3 during Qualifying, the first time since the Japanese Grand Prix of 2012 that the team failed to get a single driver into the top ten shootout.

But the W13 appeared to be a much better car in the longer runs, with Russell taking the top spot with a time of 1:19.457, 0.081 seconds ahead of Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez.

However, Pérez’s best time was set on the medium Pirelli compound compared to the soft run of Russell, meaning Mercedes might not be as strong as they appeared to be during the session.

Charles Leclerc, who will start on the front row for Saturday’s Sprint race. was third quickest for Scuderia Ferrari in front of their beloved Tifosi, while Hamilton was fourth in the second Mercedes, ahead of the leading BWT Alpine F1 Team driver, Fernando Alonso.

Carlos Sainz Jr., who will have work to do from tenth on the grid after crashing during Qualifying on Friday, was sixth in the second Ferrari, just ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the Dutchman appearing to not be as confident around Imola as team-mate Pérez was across the session.

After being eliminated in Q1 on Friday, both Scuderia AlphaTauri drivers placed inside the top ten on Saturday morning, with Yuki Tsunoda again having the edge on Pierre Gasly as they finished eighth and ninth.  Zhou Guanyu completed the top ten for Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN as team-mate Valtteri Bottas sat out the session with more mechanical issues.

Another driver to miss out on running was McLaren F1 Team’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the team removing his power unit as they investigated a problem.  His team-mate Lando Norris also missed a chunk of the session due to a braking issue that left him the slowest of the eighteen drivers who set a lap time.

Alexander Albon, who will start the Sprint race last on the grid following his brake issue during Qualifying, was as high as second at one point during the session for Williams Racing, but the Thai driver dropped to eleventh by the end, just ahead of Haas F1 Team duo Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher.

It was another disappointing session for the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team as Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel ended fourteenth and fifteenth, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and McLaren’s Norris.

The next track action for the teams will be first Sprint race of the season, with Verstappen starting on pole position ahead of Leclerc.  Some drivers will go into the race with more confidence than others, with the likes of Norris, Ricciardo and Norris on the back foot after very limited dry weather running across the weekend.

Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari Free Practice 2 Result