Charles Leclerc dominated Friday Practice for 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Leclerc topped FP1 from George Russell but found more time to head McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in FP2 as the Monegasque enjoyed a positive day of running in his upgraded Ferrari.
Red Bull meanwhile endured a difficult day as they struggled for performance amidst a rare error-strewn FP2 for Max Verstappen.
FP1
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was first out on track but it was his ex Alpine teammate, Esteban Ocon who set the initial benchmark time of 1m 22.147 on medium tyres.
Carlos Sainz, Verstappen then Russell soon displaced the Frenchman, before Lewis Hamilton posted 1m 18.998 on his second flier to go quickest only for Piastri to go faster by 0.012 seconds moments later.
Verstappen meanwhile ran the soft tyre in his opening stint and found himself top shortly after Piastri’s lap as he posted 1m 18.606 to go fastest from his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez by 0.008s.
Russell posted 1m 17.909 in the 16th minute to go quickest but the red flags were out four minutes later, after Williams’ Alex Albon suffered a power failure just days after he signed a contract extension with the team.
The session resumed in the 26th minute with several drivers switching to the soft tyres as Leclerc posted 1m 17.438 to find himself top at the half-hour mark.
Only Sainz and Russell displaced Leclerc in the following minutes but the Monegasque driver bounced back with a session-topping 1m 16.990 in the 38th minute ahead of Russell and Sainz.
Williams’ Logan Sargeant meanwhile was the only driver to set his best lap time on the medium rather than soft tyre, aside from Albon whose best lap was on the hard tyre before his session came to an early end.
Oliver Bearman was the only stand-in driver participating in FP1 only as he replaced Kevin Magnussen, but the Brit managed to set the 15th fastest lap time and was 2.392s ahead of his teammate for the session – Nico Hulkenberg.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 16.990 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.104 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.130 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.243 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.250 |
| 6 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.388 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.418 |
| 8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.612 |
| 9 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.817 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.877 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.915 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.082 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 1.152 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.622 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.677 |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | + 1.837 |
| 17 | Guanyu Zhou | Kick Sauber | + 2.139 |
| 18 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 2.911 |
| 19 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 3.060 |
| 20 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 4.069 |
FP2
Ocon was first out on track and set a benchmark 1m 19.068 but Tsunoda soon set the pace on medium tyres with 1m 17.672 moments later.
Leclerc soon displaced the RB driver followed by Norris and Verstappen who set 1m 16.930 to head the Brit by 0.050s.
Tsunoda and Verstappen soon traded fastest laps but Leclerc topped the opening stint with 1m 16.677 as attention soon turned to the soft tyre Qualifying simulations.
Russell was the first driver to set a soft-tyre lap time which put him fourth in the 25th minute but Leclerc two minutes later lowered the benchmark to 1m 15.969, which eventually became a session-topping 1m 15.906 a further seven minutes later.
Piastri and Tsunoda rounded out the top three for McLaren and RB respectively ahead of Hamilton, Russell and Sainz, as Verstappen and Perez finished seventh and eighth-fastest as they struggled for pace in their Red Bull cars.
Norris finished 12th quickest after he aborted his soft-tyre Qualifying simulation after an error on the exit of Rivazza, which meant that his best time was achieved on the medium tyre.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 15.906 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.192 |
| 3 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.380 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.391 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.405 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.517 |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.541 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.646 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.920 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.932 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 1.061 |
| 12 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.074 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.085 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.102 |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.158 |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | + 1.182 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.223 |
| 18 | Alex Albon | William | + 1.229 |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Kick Sauber | + 1.700 |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 1.942 |