Lewis Hamilton suffers another disastrous practice session at Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

Hamilton's struggles continue

Lewis Hamilton's difficult start to the Formula One season continued after he finished 18th in the practice session ahead of Sunday's Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Following on from the third race of the season in Melbourne, Australia two weeks ago, the grid came back together at a rain-drenched Imola. Hoping to reignite their season, Mercedes were hoping for some strong performances but the record-equalling seven-time world champion and his teammate George Russell struggled as the former finished just 18th and the latter 10th.

Leclerc impressed once again

[caption id="attachment_331380" align="alignnone" width="640"] Credit: Getty[/caption] Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc continued his excellent start to the campaign as he looks to build upon his 34-point lead at the top of the driver's championship. The Ferrari driver has won two out of the three races so far this year and finished top of the leaderboard in Friday's practice session once again, as well as finishing a whole seven seconds ahead of Hamilton. Furthermore, the battle to finish on pole will also take place on Friday as the first of three sprint races will take place on Saturday before Sunday's race. Qualifying will determine how the grid will look for the 21-lap sprint - with the final results of the sprint session locking out the grid for the main event. It seems inevitable that a Ferrari driver will be in line for pole position, with Leclerc's partner Carlos Sainz finishing in second during the first practice session. Max Verstappen of Red Bull meanwhile finished in third, ahead of the Haas duo of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher, who finished fourth and fifth respectively. The session was briefly delayed after a red flag was waved due to McClaren driver Lando Norris temporarily driving his car into the gravel. He was ultimately able to return to reach the pits without any serious damage and should be fine for the sprint. Related links:

• Max Verstappen pokes fun at Lewis Hamilton’s involvement in Chelsea takeover bid
• Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams to invest in Chelsea takeover bid
• No More 'Mr Nice Guy': Lando Norris gunning for Hamilton and Verstappen