Perfect Prep for Piastri – Friday’s Results Summarised

By Joe Murphy

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix practice sessions took place on Friday, May 16, 2025, at the Imola Circuit. McLaren dominated both sessions, with Oscar Piastri topping the timesheets in both Practice 1 and Practice 2.

Piastri set the fastest time in Practice 1 with a lap time of 1:16.545, followed closely by teammate Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr. faced challenges who showed promising speed, even competing with McLaren in certain sectors.

In comparison, the man who replaced him at Ferrari; Lewis Hamilton, struggled to even break the top 10.

In Practice 2, Piastri continued to impress, topping the timesheets with a lap time of 1:15.293. Norris backed him up with the second-fastest time. Pierre Gasly delivered a surprise performance for Alpine, finishing third fastest in Practice 2.

Max Verstappen, the reigning champion, faced challenges in Practice 2, finishing fifth fastest. The team will need to work on optimizing their car’s performance before qualifying tomorrow. This was after Isack Hadjar had earlier brought out the Red Flag for a costly mistake.

McLaren’s strong performance in both practice sessions suggests they could be a force to be reckoned with in qualifying and the race. Williams will be hopeful of scoring points as will Red Bull, Alpine and Mercedes. Ferrari, however, will need to work on finding pace and consistency to challenge for the top spots.