Oscar Piastri, from Australia, drove his McLaren MCL38 into the gravel trap during the practice day of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on May 17, 2024. In the final practice session, Piastri put the McLaren at the top of the standings, while Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez crashed.
Earlier, Ferrari had set the fastest times with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, but Piastri and his teammate Lando Norris managed to surpass them, securing a 1-2 position for McLaren.
Teams were greeted with sunny weather in Imola, and the session started with the unusual sight of both Red Bull drivers entering the track. Red Bull had faced difficulties in the previous day’s sessions, trailing behind Ferrari and McLaren. The team worked overnight to improve the balance of their RB20.
Max Verstappen, who had faced some difficulties in FP2, seemed more comfortable behind the wheel and set the fastest time with the Medium compound. However, Piastri showed McLaren’s speed by beating Sainz’s time with a lap of 1.15.529s.
Unfortunately, Ferrari couldn’t respond to Piastri’s improvement as Perez crashed his Red Bull into the Variante Alta chicane barrier. The session was briefly interrupted to allow the drivers back on track, but traffic prevented Leclerc and Sainz from completing clean laps.
Despite the challenges, Norris managed to find some open space on the track and set the fastest final sector, securing second place, just three tenths behind his teammate. Sainz and Leclerc held onto third and fourth positions, respectively, with Mercedes’ George Russell completing the top five.
Verstappen finished in sixth place, followed by Alex Albon from Williams, Esteban Ocon from Alpine, and Lance Stroll from Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso, who was testing the latest updates from Aston Martin, made an unusual mistake and hit the barrier at the final corner.
Alonso was cleared at the medical center, but the damage to his AMR24 raised doubts about his participation in qualifying. Nico Hulkenberg from Haas made it into the top 10, while Daniel Ricciardo finished in 11th. Perez and his Red Bull teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, took the 12th and 13th positions, respectively.
Valtteri Bottas, initially in fifth place, dropped to 14th as other drivers set faster times. Zhou Guanyu from Sauber was the slowest, while Logan Sargeant from Williams finished in 15th. Kevin Magnussen from Haas came in 16th, and Lewis Hamilton, unable to match the pace of his teammate, ended up in 17th place.
