Lewis Hamilton finished only 18th as Charles Leclerc set the pace in opening practice for Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
A fortnight on from a sun-drenched Melbourne, Formula One reconvened at a rain-hit Imola for the fourth round of the new season.
Leclerc, who has won two of the opening three races, holds a commanding 34-point lead at the top of the championship.
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And despite several off-track excursions, he led the way here in the sole running before qualifying later on Friday.
But Mercedes’ early-season woes showed few changes, with George Russell only 10th and teammate Hamilton even further back, seven seconds off Leclerc’s pace.
The battle for pole position has been brought forward to Friday to accommodate the first of three sprint rounds this season.
Qualifying will determine the grid for Saturday’s 21-lap dash, with the order of the Sprint setting the grid for Sunday’s main event.
But this evening’s action looks set to take place in challenging conditions with the poor weather expected to continue throughout the day.
The early signs suggest Ferrari will remain the team to beat.
The Scuderia boasts the speediest machine of the sport’s new era. They led the way again in practice, with Leclerc finishing ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz – the Spaniard whose two-year contract extension with the Italian team was announced before their home race.
World champion Max Verstappen finished third, 1.465 seconds down, with Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher fourth and fifth, respectively for Haas.
A red flag was deployed in the closing moments of the one-hour running after Lando Norris temporarily beached his McLaren in the gravel at Acque Minerali.
Norris returned to the pits without major damage, with the action resuming for the final three minutes. Qualifying takes place at 17:00 local time (4pm UK).
FP1 results at Imola
1 Charles Leclerc: Scuderia Ferrari – 1m29.402s
2 Carlos Sainz: Scuderia Ferrari – 1m30.279s
3 Max Verstappen: Oracle Red Bull Racing – 1m30.867s
4 Kevin Magnussen: Haas F1 Team – 1m32.439s
5 Mick Schumacher: Haas F1 Team – 1m32.988s
6 Sergio Perez: Oracle Bull Racing – 1m33.012s
7 Fernando Alonso: BWT Alpine F1 Team – 1m33.160s
8 Sebastian Vettel: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team – 1m33.365s
9 Yuki Tsunoda: Scuderia AlphaTauri – 1m33.611s
10 George Russell: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team – 1m34.262s
11 Valtteri Bottas: Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen – 1m34.615s
12 Pierre Gasly: Scuderia AlphaTauri – 1m35.104s
13 Esteban Ocon: BWT Alpine F1 Team – 1m35.420s
14 Lando Norris: McLaren F1 Team – 1m35.502s
15 Daniel Ricciardo: McLaren F1 Team – 1m35.625s
16 Lance Stroll: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team – 1m36.033s
17 Alexander Albon: Williams Racing – 1m36.461s
18 Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team – 1m36.464s
19 Guanyu Zhou: Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen – 1m37.450s
20 Nicholas Latifi: Williams Racing – 1m39.698s
