Russell tops dry final practice at Imola ahead of sprint

George Russell has topped a dry final practice at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ahead of the first sprint race of the season.

The Briton put his Mercedes 0.081s ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the top three, 0.283s adrift.

It was the first dry session of the grand prix weekend after both practice and qualifying on Friday were heavily affected by rain, but despite the change in climatic conditions, parc fermé rules remained from Friday night according to sprint weekend rules.