McLaren finishes FP3 of the F1 Imola GP with first and second fastest times, but results and session times reveal difficulties with the soft tire for much of the field. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri top the FP3 leaderboard at the Enzo and Dino Ferrari Circuit. The closest pursuer to the McLarens is Max Verstappen, who, like many other drivers, struggled to find the right setup with the soft C6 compound. Let’s review a summary of what happened in FP3 of the F1 Imola GP and the session results.
First thirty minutes
The first ten minutes of the session offer little to report. Aside from Norris’s outlap with a different rear wing specification and the warm-up laps of the two Aston Martins, the only notable times are Lewis Hamilton’s on medium tires at 1:16.983 and Hulkenberg’s on soft tires at 1:18.005.
After another ten minutes and the first third of the session completed, the track activity intensifies for the first time. Oliver Bearman rises to second place, three tenths off on soft tires; Lawson, Gasly, and Leclerc are further back by eight tenths. Hadjar, Alonso, and Ocon are over a second behind; Colapinto positions just ahead of the two Saubers. Haas, Sauber, and Alpine run soft tires; Aston Martin runs hard tires; all other teams start programs on mediums.
Top teams on track
Medium tires for McLaren and Red Bull as well, who set their first timed laps near the 40-minute mark. Verstappen leads with a 1:15.579, beating Norris by 77 thousandths and Piastri by 254; Yuki Tsunoda is much further back, 993 thousandths off. To everyone’s surprise, Hadjar sets the fastest time at 1:15.508 on the same compound, followed closely by Leclerc at 21 thousandths.
Then the Williams drivers and the two Mercedes are the last to set times in FP3. Sainz and Albon perform well, sitting tenth and eleventh; Mercedes are further behind, with Russell seventh at six tenths and Antonelli fifteenth at 1.3 seconds. Red Bull and McLaren push again with five minutes left in the first half-hour: Verstappen retakes the session lead with 1:15.130, Norris follows 139 thousandths behind, Tsunoda still nine tenths off.
Williams improve again with Sainz and Albon in seventh and eighth. Lawson spins at Tamburello, ending the first half-hour. Medium tire attempts continue: Verstappen further improves by half a tenth, Russell moves up to fifth, Antonelli still struggles at thirteenth. Hamilton also attempts a lap but decides not to complete it.
Second half of the session
After a brief ten-minute break, the last third of FP3 begins. Antonelli continues working with medium tires, limiting his gap to drivers ahead and climbing to tenth place, 841 thousandths behind.
Drivers generally struggled to improve moving from C5 to C6 tires, making many mistakes and showing weak sector times. Norris lowers his time, as does Piastri; they are separated by 376 thousandths with the Englishman leading at 1:14.897. Antonelli shines with a fourth-place time just half a second off; Hamilton is eleventh, one thousandth behind Alonso on the same tire. Sainz and Albon fail to improve on their medium tire times; Hamilton gains a few hundredths despite a gravel excursion.
Hadjar fails to improve, while Piastri closes in on Norris to within a tenth. Charles Leclerc finally lowers his time with five minutes remaining, though still half a second behind Norris.
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