F1 Imola GP: McLaren fastest as Alonso and Perez crash out of FP3

Perez’s late shunt at the Variante Alta led to a last-gasp scramble for drivers to set final qualifying simulation times, where only Lando Norris was able to set a time that put him second, 0.3s slower than his team-mate.

A host of drivers failed to set a time in this late scramble, including Max Verstappen, who now heads into qualifying without a proper sighter on the soft tyres, as he and Perez spent the early part of the session concentrating on their overnight set-up work on the medium tyres.

Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished third and fourth with the times they had set during a series of soft-tyre runs in the first third of the session.

Leclerc did attempt to set a late final flying time as he overtook several cars including Sainz with an aggressive outlap as the clock ticked down.

But having got by Piastri and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly on the run to start his last lap, Leclerc’s opening sector was slower than his personal best and he backed off.

Piastri’s session-setting time – a 1m15.529s – came as the pack were preparing more typically for late fliers in the final 10 minutes, but Perez’s accident cut these efforts short and meant even if drivers had had more time to run properly again they were all set to do so on used rubber, including Norris at the head of the pack.

Perez lost his Red Bull’s rear as he bounced down to earth having whacked the kerbs at the Variante Alta’s first apex and his correction sent him off into the gravel and the barriers.

His medium-tyre personal best meant he was shuffled down to 12th by those that did have time to improve pre-red-flag-one, which included George Russell nipping into fifth ahead of Verstappen in a session where both Mercedes cars complained of different ride problems.

The other stoppage came as the halfway stage approach when Alonso (18th in the final order) lost control of the rear of his car turning in from the kerbs between the Rivazza turns and spun off backwards into the barriers on the outside of the final corner.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24, strays into the gravel (Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images)

 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix - Free Practice 3

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	15	1'15.529		233.981
2	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	15	+0.300 1'15.829	0.300	233.055
3	C. Sainz Ferrari	55		Ferrari	Ferrari	22	+0.538 1'16.067	0.238	232.326
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	20	+0.558 1'16.087	0.020	232.265
5	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	16	+0.566 1'16.095	0.008	232.241
6	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	21	+0.837 1'16.366	0.271	231.417
7	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	14	+0.941 1'16.470	0.104	231.102
8	E. Ocon Alpine	31		Alpine	Renault	19	+0.952 1'16.481	0.011	231.069
9	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	24	+1.014 1'16.543	0.062	230.881
10	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27		Haas	Ferrari	15	+1.018 1'16.547	0.004	230.869
11	D. Ricciardo RB	3		RB	Red Bull	15	+1.031 1'16.560	0.013	230.830
12	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	18	+1.102 1'16.631	0.071	230.616
13	Y. Tsunoda RB	22		RB	Red Bull	14	+1.139 1'16.668	0.037	230.505
14	V. Bottas Sauber	77		Sauber	Ferrari	15	+1.166 1'16.695	0.027	230.424
15	L. Sargeant Williams	2		Williams	Mercedes	16	+1.265 1'16.794	0.099	230.127
16	K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20		Haas	Ferrari	12	+1.394 1'16.923	0.129	229.741
17	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	16	+1.431 1'16.960	0.037	229.630
18	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	10	+1.810 1'17.339	0.379	228.505
19	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	17	+1.832 1'17.361	0.022	228.440
20	Z. Guanyu Sauber	24		Sauber	Ferrari	15	+2.362 1'17.891	0.530	226.886
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