Oscar Piastri continued his red-hot 2025 form by setting the pace in Free Practice 1 for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, leading a McLaren 1-2 ahead of teammate Lando Norris in a session where the top 15 drivers were covered by less than a second.
Piastri clocked a best time of 1:16.545s, narrowly edging out Norris by just 0.028s. The Australian, who has claimed victory in four of the opening six races this year, took control midway through the session after displacing Mercedes’ George Russell at the top of the timesheets.
Tight margins across the grid
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz showed strong early pace to finish third, just 0.052s off Piastri’s benchmark, making him the quickest non-McLaren driver of the day. Russell dropped to fourth in the final standings, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who recovered from an off-track excursion at the Gresini chicane to post the fifth-fastest time despite abandoning what had been a promising lap.
World Champion Max Verstappen, who has won the last three races at Imola, struggled throughout the session with grip, telling his team he was “drifting everywhere.” The Red Bull driver ended up seventh, more than three-tenths off Piastri’s time.
Notable incidents
- Pierre Gasly was a standout for Alpine in sixth place.
- Alex Albon brought Williams into the top 10 despite two visits to the run-off areas.
- Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto impressed in ninth for Sauber but ended his session in the wall at the final corner, causing a red flag that ended FP1 two minutes early.
- His teammate Nico Hülkenberg rounded out the top 10.
- Charles Leclerc, still recovering from illness, quietly slotted into 12th.
- Young Mercedes hopeful Kimi Antonelli, racing at home, finished 13th.
- Franco Colapinto made his first official F1 session appearance with Alpine but finished 17th after an off-track moment at Villeneuve.
Final FP1 Top 5:
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 1:16.545
- Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.028
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.052
- George Russell (Mercedes) +0.096
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.123
With Piastri setting the tone and McLaren showing early strength, the weekend at Imola is shaping up for a thrilling continuation of what’s already been a fiercely competitive 2025 season. All eyes now turn to FP2 as teams look to fine-tune setups ahead of a pivotal qualifying session on Saturday.
