Verstappen four-tenths clear of Norris in final F1 practice at Imola

Red Bull bounced back from a tricky Friday as Max Verstappen set the fastest time in final practice for Formula 1’s 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

After losing the majority of second practice because of a driveshaft issue, Verstappen hit back in FP3 as he became the first driver to dip into the 1m14s to end the session 0.456s clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was third-fastest but over half a second adrift of Verstappen’s benchmark in his Mercedes, with Red Bull appearing to hold the advantage heading into qualifying at Imola.

Sergio Perez was over half a second down on his teammate in the second Red Bull, two tenths clear of Charles Leclerc, who continued Ferrari’s encouraging start to the weekend in fifth.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly survived a wide moment to end final practice a strong sixth, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas, who finished FP3 locked on exactly the same time.

The Alpine duo of returning two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top-10 order, just 0.002s clear of Yuki Tsunoda, who gave a number of entertaining radio rants over what he called “traffic paradise”.

The session was briefly interrupted by a red flag when Nicholas Latifi tapped the barriers after drifting through the gravel at Villeneuve, though he was able to escape and crawl back to the garage minus part of his front wing.

Both Alfa Romeo drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen each had turns running through the gravel as the drivers battled to stay on-track around the old-school venue.

FULL RESULTS FROM FINAL PRACTICE FOR F1’s EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX AT IMOLA.