THE Formula One Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was hit by chaos earlier today as TWO red flags were waved.
Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez were to blame for the on-track carnage in FP3 after hitting the barriers.
Two-time world champion Alonso rear-ended the barrier and beached his car into the gravel after spinning off going into the final corner.
It came as he lost the back end of the car after carrying understeer into the previous corner, with the Sky Sports F1 commentator calling it a “rare mistake” from the 42-year-old.
The Aston Martin driver was fortunately okay, telling his race engineer: “Sorry mate. Yes all good!”
That crash came around 25 minutes into the session and after a short delay the session was allowed to resume.
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Then with just under six minutes of the session to go, Red Bull driver Perez crashed into the wall and broke off his wing, causing a second red flag.
The Mexican driver drove into the turn 14 and 15 chicane too quickly, and was unable to correct his course when the car rode over the kerb which resulted in the 34-year-old going into the gravel.
Stewards managed to clear away the car with two minutes to go.
This gave McLaren ace Lando Norris, who celebrated his first win in Miami last week with a 24-hour bender and rounds of golf in Augusta, time to set the second fastest time of the session.
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The Brit was bettered only by team-mate Oscar Piastri, who came home three tenths faster at 1:15.529.
Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were directly behind them before Mercedes star George Russell and reigning champion Max Verstappen.
FP1 had also seen a heavy shunt for teen sensation Oliver Bearman, who was driving an F1 car competitively for the first time since impressing on his debut in Saudi Arabia in March.
Qualifying around Imola gets underway at 3pm UK time, while the race is at 2pm on Sunday.
Fans may notice a major change to Sky’s broadcast over the weekend with David Croft missing his first F1 weekend for the first time in 16 years.
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Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
