Formula 1 2021: Max Verstappen tops final practice at Imola to boost hopes of grabbing pole position

Imola, Italy: Max Verstappen posted the fastest time in the final practice for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix to boost his chances of taking pole position later Saturday. The Red Bull driver was nearly half a second faster than the rest of the pack. He was 0.456 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and .557 clear of world champion Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. Mercedes led the two practice sessions on Friday with Valtteri Bottas fastest in both, just ahead of Hamilton as Red Bull endured a tough start to the weekend. Verstappen’s second practice lasted just 10 minutes after a driveshaft problem. Bottas was only eighth-fastest on Saturday, nearly a second slower than Verstappen. The Emilia-Romagna GP is the second race of the Formula One season. Hamilton won the opener in Bahrain last month, just ahead of Verstappen after a thrilling duel. That race was effectively decided when Verstappen overtook Hamilton but went too wide on a turn and off the track limits. He was told by his team to give Hamilton the position back. Track limits could also pose a problem at Imola as several drivers had their times deleted after running wide on Turn Nine. Saturday’s practice was briefly red-flagged after Nicholas Latifi lost control at the Villeneuve chicane and slid through the gravel and into the barriers.