Piastri leads ultra-close practice with a tenth of a second covering top five

Oscar Piastri led a one-two for McLaren in the first practice session for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, which came to an early end after Gabriel Bortoleto crashed.

There was little to separate the front-running drivers under sunny skies at Imola. Less than a tenth of a second covered the McLaren pair at the top of the times, Carlos Sainz Jnr in fine form in the Williams, George Russell for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari, who reported being brake-tested by one of the Racing Bulls drivers during the session.

Max Verstappen was not among the top five and did not look happy at the wheel of his upgraded Red Bull. He set the seventh-fastest time, just three-tenths of a second off the pace, but was visibly frustrated as his RB21 slid sideways more than once at the exit of a corner.

He ended up slower than Pierre Gasly, who demonstrated promising pace in the Alpine. While most of the quickest drivers confined their running to the new C6 soft compound, Gasly began the session on mediums and was quick on that compound too. He ended up a tenth of a second off Piastri.

Franco Colapinto made his first appearance as Gasly’s new team mate in the other Alpine. The pair were separated by six tenths of a second, and with the times so close, that left Colapinto down in 17th.

Alexander Albon was eighth, having opened his final flying lap with the fastest time in the first sector before making a mistake at the Variante Alta. The Sauber drivers completed the top 10.

However the session did not end well for Bortoleto in ninth place. His C45 got away from him as he turned into Rivazza 2, and from there he could do nothing but plough through the gravel a short distance into the barrier, taking the nose off his car. With just two minutes left to run when he crashed, the session was red-flagged and not restarted.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

Charles Leclerc was 12th in the second Ferrari, having been absent from the track yesterday due to illness. Fernando Alonso was not pleased to encounter his Ferrari early in the session at Variante Alta, but the stewards ruled no investigation for impeding was necessary.

2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Grand Prix first practice result

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

• Red Bull are further off their 2024 pace than any team at Imola
• Bortoleto avoids penalty as stewards give him “benefit of the doubt”
• “Tiniest” set-up changes caused huge deterioration in handling – Hamilton
• Not just McLaren drivers in fight for Imola pole position – Piastri
• Gasly damaged front wing and floor hitting rabbit in first practice

Browse all 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix articles