McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have made a promising start to their Italian race weekend in Imola. Both performed well in the first free practice for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Friday afternoon, taking the first and second fastest times respectively. Max Verstappen ended the practice in seventh place. The four-time world champion from Red Bull complained over the radio about the balance of his car.
In Imola, much attention is naturally given to Franco Colapinto, who is making his return to Formula 1 in the Italian village as a replacement for Jack Doohan at Alpine, and to the young Italian, Kimi Antonelli. Both youngsters come through unscathed, unlike their peer Gabriel Bortoleto (Stake F1/Sauber) who crashes in the final stages.
Twenty minutes into FP1, Antonelli’s Mercedes teammate George Russell convincingly takes the lead on the timesheet (1.16,599) on the softs, more than half a second ahead of McLaren driver Lando Norris. Max Verstappen has a difficult start to the session with few laps and a lot of understeer, but halfway through the session, he suddenly posts the second fastest time (1.16,905). However, this proves to be a brief improvement, as the rest of the session continues to be challenging for the Dutchman.
Red Bull Updates
Most teams have brought updates to Imola, including Red Bull. However, Max Verstappen tempered expectations during Thursday’s media day. The upgrades mainly involve further development of the floor and the sidepods. The changes aim to increase the downforce of the RB21, with a distribution designed to better manage the tires. However, Verstappen continues to struggle with the balance of his car during training.
McLaren, on the other hand, has this under control like no other. World Championship leader Oscar Piastri sets the record straight in the second part of VT1 by clocking the fastest time (1.16,545), closely followed by teammate Lando Norris. No changes occur for the remainder of the session.
The session remains free of significant incidents until just before the end. With two minutes left on the clock, Gabriel Bortoleto (Stake F1) makes a mistake when entering turn 18 and ends up in the wall. The Brazilian – who was ninth fastest at the time of the crash – escapes without injury. However, it does result in a red flag, which immediately ends the training session.
Top-10: Piastri, Norris, Sainz, Russell, Hamilton, Gasly, Verstappen, Albon, Bortoleto, and Nico Hulkenberg.
VT2 will take place later today, starting at 15:00 UTC.
