Leclerc on top at Imola, difficult day for Verstappen

IMOLA, Italy :Charles Leclerc was fastest in his upgraded Ferrari in practice for the Italian team's home Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Friday as Red Bull's Formula One leader Max Verstappen endured a difficult day.

Leclerc, whose home Monaco race follows next week, led both sunny sessions at Imola's Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit and ended with a best time of one minute and 15.906 seconds.

George Russell lapped second fastest for Mercedes in the first session, 0.104 seconds behind and also on soft tyres, but McLaren's Oscar Piastri was closest to Leclerc in the second with a gap of 0.192.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was third in session one and RB's Yuki Tsunoda a surprise occupant of that slot in session two for his team's home race.

Verstappen, winner of four of six races this season, also had a range of new parts on his car but lapped only fifth and seventh fastest respectively after going off track in both sessions.

"A difficult day. Just difficult to get a good balance and just not really feeling comfortable in the car, moving around a lot," he said.

"We have a few things that we have to look at because today definitely... just bad, just not comfortable. Also the long run was really bad, so definitely a few things that we have to improve if we want to be competitive tomorrow."

The Dutch driver, who was 0.250 off the pace in first practice and 0.541 slower than Leclerc in the second, complained over the radio of a lack of grip as his car bounced across grass and gravel at Acque Minerali.

"It's so difficult everything, man. This time suddenly the front grips up a lot, I almost spin," reported Verstappen, who was also angry with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton getting in his way at one point.

"It's not the first time," he said.

Seven-times