Oscar Piastri capped off a commanding Friday by going fast in both practice sessions of the F1 Imola GP weekend. The Australian held a firm grip on the top spot through a FP2 of soft-tyre flyers, a red flag and traffic troubles, making it two-for-two at the top for Piastri.
The gaps may have been tight across the midfield in FP2, but McLaren has pulled ahead of everyone else. Between the teammates, it’s razor thin. Piastri just edged Norris by a couple of hundredths again today, nearly identical to their morning lap. But the story is how far ahead they are from the pack, almost three-tenths clear, which is a huge advantage to defend overnight.
Surprises during FP2
Pierre Gasly is the surprise challenger here. Not many would have expected Alpine to be this competitive after their recent upheaval, but Gasly’s pace has been impressive. He sits comfortably ahead of George Russell in fourth, and looks ready to mix it up with the top teams this weekend.
Meanwhile, Ferrari is struggling. Both Leclerc and Hamilton have been vocal about brake issues. It is clear they still haven’t found the right balance. With overtaking difficult on the circuit, getting a strong qualifying lap is crucial, and that’s something Ferrari will need to sort out fast if they want to fight in the front.
There was late session drama, with hometown hero Kimi Antonelli audibly frustrated after being blocked by a Red Bull, meanwhile Norris and Colapinto gave fans a glimpse of wheel-to-wheel action- an unexpected by useful rehearsal in traffic management. With traffic being a problem at the Imola GP, it could well become a defining factor in tomorrow’s qualifying session.
Isack Hadjar joined in with a brief red flag interruption in the final ten minutes, after beaching his car at the edge of the track. A snap of oversteer saw him in the gravel, and though he tried to rejoin safely through the traffic, the delay meant he lost his momentum and got stuck.
As the focus shifted to long-run simulations towards the end of the session, teams opted to switch to the yellow boots. Typically, teams would trial the softs instead, but the C6 tyres seem unsuited to race conditions, and no one opted to stay on it. The hard tyre also remained unused, as the teams appeared to save both sets of the more versatile C4 for Sunday. That tyre management strategy could prove decisive.
Early stages of FP2 at the F1 Imola GP
The early stages of FP2 saw a flurry of competitive laps as teams began to dial in their performance setups. Lando Norris led the timesheets initially, while Williams impressed with early pace, although it came with the usual caveat of timing and track evolution playing a role this early in the session.
Roughly a third of the way through, Norris remained in control of the session with a 1:15:952 on the medium tyres, but George Russell soon emerged as the early benchmark. The Mercedes driver bolted on a set of softs earlier than most, and went straight to the top, three tenths clear of Norris.
As the others followed suit, the spotlight shifted to Max Verstappen. After a scrappy opening stint that saw him wrestle with a loose RB21, the Red Bull looked more stable on the softs. Verstappen clocked personal bests in the first and final sectors, and slotted in P2, just 0.042s behind Russell. A solid lap, though still not quite the dominance Red Bull might have expected.
What was happening in the midfield?
Ferrari, meanwhile, had work to do. Both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton reported braking issues, with Leclerc labelling it “horrendous” over team radio. Struggling with a twitch SF25 and brake imbalance, Leclerc and Hamilton stayed in the bottom 10.
With all the drivers having completed their soft tyre runs, the timesheets offered a more representative look at the pecking order. McLaren maintained their grip at the top, with Oscar Piastri leading Lando Norris in a string one-two. Just behind, though, Gasly continued to raise eyebrows. After showing promise in FP1, the Alpine driver backed it up with another slot into third, reminding the paddock not to discount him this weekend.
With less than 15 minutes on the clock, Russell followed in fourth, edging out Verstappen, Leclerc and Isack Hadjar. That made it six teams in the top 7 spots, a testament to the tightly packed midfield.
Alpine had more to smile about, with Franco Colapinto quietly impressing in his first F1 race back with Alpine. The Argentine wrapped up the session in P13. Calm and composed, Colapinto is settling in well, and as his confidence builds, so too might his pace.
Final Results:
- Piastri
- Norris
- Gasly
- Russell
- Verstappen
- Leclerc
- Hadjar
- Tsunoda
- Albon
- Sainz
- Hamilton
- Bearman
- Colapinto
- Alonso
- Lawson
- Bortoleto
- Stroll
- Antonelli
- Hulkenberg
- Ocon
more to follow…
