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.

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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

P. # Driver Team Model Time Gap Laps
1 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes MCL39 1’16.545 23
2 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes MCL39 1’16.577 0.032 23
3 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Williams-Mercedes FW47 1’16.597 0.052 19
4 63 George Russell Mercedes W16 1’16.599 0.054 26
5 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari SF-25 1’16.641 0.096 22
6 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault A525 1’16.696 0.151 21
7 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda RBPT RB21 1’16.905 0.360 15
8 23 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes FW47 1’16.922 0.377 21
9 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber-Ferrari C45 1’16.925 0.380 23
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari C45 1’16.998 0.453 23
11 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes AMR25 1’17.032 0.487 23
12 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF-25 1’17.077 0.532 23
13 12 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes W16 1’17.094 0.549 23
14 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Mercedes AMR25 1’17.121 0.576 22
15 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 02 1’17.286 0.741 22
16 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull-Honda RBPT RB21 1’17.356 0.811 18
17 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Renault A525 1’17.373 0.828 21
18 87 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari VF-25 1’17.446 0.901 20
19 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 02 1’17.641 1.096 19
20 31 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari VF-25 1’17.662 1.117 20

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2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

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