Emilia-Romagna GP: Lewis Hamilton leads the only practice session at Imola

Qualifying begins at 1:00 pm live on Sky Sports F1, with preparation starting at noon. Sunday’s race is at 12:10 pm; F1 takes place just two days in Imola, and Saturday morning is the only practice session.

Lewis Hamilton started the condensed F1 Emilia-Romagna GP weekend faster by setting the pace for Max Verstappen in the only practice session of the weekend before qualifying on Saturday.

F1’s return to historic Imola in northern Italy after a 14-year absence is running in just two days and the drivers had just 90 minutes of practice to catch up and perfect their car setup for the rest of the weekend on Saturday morning.

Classification begins at 13:00, with accumulation in Sky Sports F1 from noon. Sunday’s race is at 12.10.

0:37

Renault’s Esteban Ocon had a mishap on the pit line during practice at Imola

Hamilton, who last drove the circuit in 2006 in GP2, took some time to move up the timesheets, but finished with a better time in the session on the soft tires of 1: 14.726.

But Max Verstappen split the Mercedes to finish just 0.297 seconds behind the world champion. The Red Bull rider also set his best lap early in the session, when the track was not as sheltered.

Valtteri Bottas, who raced through the gravel in the second Rivazza, was third, almost half a second behind Hamilton in the sister Mercedes.

1:03

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz heads to the gravel at Turn 18 during practice at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Pierre Gasly impressed again with fourth place for AlphaTauri ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the two Renaults.

More to follow …